Our Story
Proudly Serving Rio Rico, Arizona Since 1986
Family-owned.
Community-focused.
Proudly serving Rio Rico, Tubac, Nogales, and Patagonia with quality, value, and hometown service.
Garrett’s IGA Supermarket is a family-owned grocery store in Rio Rico, Arizona, serving the community from the Rio Rico Shopping Center since 1986. Today the store is run by Michael Garrett, son of founder Ray Garrett, with Store Manager Lucy Riesgo.
How Garrett’s Began
Garrett’s Supermarket was founded in 1986 by Ray Garrett. After 25 years in the food business, including time as Food Giant’s Arizona district manager, Ray bought the Food Giant store in the Rio Rico Shopping Center from his employer, Arden-Mayfair, and became his own boss. He lowered prices, improved the produce and meat departments and added a service center for lottery tickets and money orders. Garrett’s Supermarket officially opened on September 21, 1986.
It was a family affair from day one. Ray ran the 20,000-square-foot store, stocked with about 6,500 items, alongside his wife, Pam, and their sons: Michael, then a sophomore at the University of Arizona, and Jeff, a 10th grader at Sahuarita High School. Ray’s father, Ray Garrett Sr., moved from Eugene, Oregon, to join the business. The family could have opened a store in San Diego, Phoenix or Tucson, but they chose Rio Rico. As Ray told the Nogales International that fall, the deciding factor was “the liveability, the rural-type atmosphere.”
From the beginning, Garrett’s set out to serve not just Rio Rico, but the surrounding communities of Tubac, Tumacácori, Patagonia and Nogales, buying produce directly from local growers and southeastern Arizona farmers to keep things fresh and prices competitive. In 1988, the store joined IGA.
Garrett’s Today
Nearly 40 years later, Garrett’s is still a family-run hometown grocery store serving the same communities it opened its doors to in 1986. Shoppers know us for our full-service meat department and expert butcher, hot Krispy Krunchy Chicken, a liquor department with ice-cold beer, wine and spirits, custom floral arrangements, a large selection of Mexican specialty foods, and a 10% senior discount every Wednesday. We’re open 7 days a week, 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Our Timeline
- 1986: Ray Garrett buys the former Food Giant in the Rio Rico Shopping Center and opens Garrett’s Supermarket on September 21
- 1988: Garrett’s joins IGA
- Today: Still family-owned and run by Michael Garrett, serving Rio Rico, Tubac, Nogales and Patagonia
