Revamped Bashas' Diné Market Brings Healthy Living to Navajo Nation

Those moves are part of Bashas’ overall goal to create a more pleasant atmosphere for shoppers, enhance its focus on fresh and healthy foods while continuing its commitment to serve the Navajo community, and honor their culture through design, art, and product and service offerings.

‘A True Revitalization’

The Window Rock revamp is one of the latest projects in an aggressive store remodel strategy that began in 2015 targeting all of the banners within Bashas’ Family of Stores throughout Arizona, including Bashas’ Supermarkets, AJ’s Fine Foods, Food City and Diné Markets. By the time of the Window Rock store’s grand reopening, nearly half of Bashas’ roughly 100 stores had been remodeled.

“While we had addressed things on and off over the years, it was time for a true revitalization of the store and its offerings — not only for customers, but also for our members,” Basha says of the Window Rock store.  

And Bashas’ business relationship with the Navajo Nation goes deeper than simply building stores and selling groceries.

“Product selections and merchandising strategies have always been the result of a cooperative effort between community residents, community leadership and Bashas’, and the selections we make together are culturally based rather than by measurable demographics, as would be typical,” Basha explains.

Product and merchandising strategies also reflect the shopping habits of large extended families who visit the store biweekly or monthly, he says.

“The Navajo language is more oral than written, so the interior of the store is more visual. Native design, symbols and decorative art [are] prominent throughout the store,” Basha notes. Even the name — Diné, meaning “the people” — was reflective of the fact that the stores were created by and for the Navajo people.

The Diné Market in Window Rock now prominently displays 21 pieces of art from local Navajo artists. Part of an interior designed by Tammy Fontaine, director of the Eddie Basha Collection, an archive of native and western art gathered by the retailer’s late former CEO, the featured artists include Baje Whitethorne, a Reed clan member who is known for colorful landscapes depicting the Navajo Reservation, as well as portraits of his people; Larry Yazzie, whose sculpture works of women symbolizing strength are highly sought after by collectors; and trailblazer Oreland Joe, whose work captures his Ute and Navajo heritage.

“The moment you step into the Bashas’ Diné Market in Window Rock, you can see and feel the difference,” Basha says. “The store has some of the same offerings as a traditional Bashas’ supermarket, such as variety; however, in this store, you will find department signage written in both English and the native Navajo language. The store design includes colors that are representative of the natural land around the Window Rock community.”

What’s more, ceremonies, dances, rodeos and other uniquely Navajo events require specific foods.

“As a result,” Basha explains, “our meat department carries large slabs of mutton and other products that reflect the Navajo tradition of using every part of an animal. Our deli serves mutton stew. Ten-pound tubs of Clabber Girl baking powder, 5-pound bags of Mama Lola’s Dry Corn, 50-pound sacks of Blue Bird Flour and 20-pound sacks of Brothers Corn Meal are stacked high in the aisles. The product selection is all a reflection of brand awareness and preferences that were developed more than 100 years ago at trading posts.”  

A full array of fruit and vegetable options are also a must, Basha adds. “Squash, corn, beans and potatoes are diet staples. We make them available in large quantities. And cooking fuel, firewood, and tack and livestock feed are as essential to Navajo life as the food they consume.”

Honoring the Community

“From the moment shoppers step through the doors, they are welcomed by the new look and feel of the store,” says Corrine Mitchell, Window Rock store director and member of the Navajo Nation. “Our goal was not only to honor the community through traditional Navajo décor, colors, signage and local artwork, but [to] deliver a larger selection of healthy, easy-to-identify food options.”

Organic and other healthy food items have been added throughout the store. Diné Healthy shelf tags and aisle signage help shoppers easily identify better-for-you foods — about 300 in all — many located in prime locations at the center and front of the store. “We’ve seen a significant rise in sales of products with those tags,” notes Ashley Shick, Bashas’ director of communications and public affairs.

Two surprise hits among new products: aloe beverages and coconut water. Shoppers “jumped in and responded to it very well, from the grand opening,” says Karen Adams, director of operations.

The store additionally features a new energy bar section, an organic snack area, and a bigger variety of teas and healthy drinks. The Window Rock store is also now home to the first Starbucks Coffee shop on the Navajo Nation, led by Starbucks Manager Sasha Gilmore, who’s fluent in Navajo.

On Starbucks’ opening day, the line for coffee stretched out the door, starting at 5 a.m. The coffee shop features a reading nook stocked with books that patrons can borrow.

The store’s deli department has new steam tables loaded with fresh homestyle meal options, open deli cases, more ovens and, here as well, an increased selection of healthy food offerings. Along with sandwiches made fresh daily, wall cases hold a variety of new items, from cold cuts and cheeses to dips and spreads. Hot options include rotisserie chickens, turkey, meatloaf, pork and mutton, regular items like pizza and fried chicken, and local favorites like Navajo tacos made with fry bread.

The in-store service bakery sports new cases, perfect for displaying the talents of Malcolm Willie, the store’s lead cake decorator, who turned out some special Navajo-themed creations on the day of PG’s visit. In addition to scratch doughnuts and Bashas’ popular crusty bread, the bakery makes traditional Navajo fry bread from handmade dough cooked in cast-iron pans; the same dough is used to make tortillas.

The remodeled meat department offers greatly expanded meat, pork and chicken offerings. The store will also grill mutton and hamburgers on weekends. Family meal boxes feature several kinds of meats in one bulk package for around $25. “Many people have to travel far [to shop], so we offer items in bulk and variety,” Mitchell says.

Native American Beef — “grown locally, Navajo-raised” — was rolled out a year ago and has been very well received.

The produce department sports new wet racks and dry cases, offering a larger variety of fruits and vegetables, including organic options.

“We’ve seen a big uptick in grab-and-go salads since we launched Diné Healthy,” Adams says.

In addition to raw and roasted corn meal, traditional Navajo steamed corn, made from a special plant harvested once a year, is exclusive to this store and carried year-round; it’s used for mutton stew, a staple native dish.

“We sell more pomegranates on the Navajo Nation than anywhere else in the chain,” Shick notes of the fruit, known in these parts as Indian apples.

Besides the many new food offerings, the store launched its first Dickies work apparel section, as well as a variety of bulk- and value-priced items. The store offers many items not carried by other Bashas’ stores, because there’s a demand for them in the agrarian community, such as chicken feed, salt licks and calf feeder buckets. “It’s been an ongoing process listening to the community and bringing in items they need,” Adams says.