T&R Market continues to serve Diné through ever-changing goods and services

GALLUP – T&R Market is a favorite shopping destination for countless Navajo families. It has been carefully created over the past 50 years since the business was established as a 7-2-11 food store in 1972.

Tony Tanner said he and his brother, Shannon, are fifth-generation business owners.

“Shannon’s son, Lance, is now sixth generation,” he said. “Our predecessors were in the Tuba City area in the late 1800s and ended up scattered throughout the Four Corners region.”

Navajo families visit the one-stop shop for feed, gas, groceries, gun purchases, hay, income tax return preparation, jewelry, pawn, propane, and other shopping needs.

The various departments at the grocery store include a post office, quality meat, produce, fish deli, fresh bakery, frozen favorites, dairy, grocery goods, health and beauty, general merchandise, and seafood.

Located five miles north of Gallup on Highway 491, T&R Market is an Affiliated Foods Inc. member store.

Tanner said the family has strengthened relations with Navajo people over the years by remaining vigilant to the ever-changing business model, whether it’s related to technology or different offerings requested by customers.

“The constant is customer service, which is what we strive for,” he said. “Ensuring that our team knows to treat customers as family and to always be appreciative of their business.”

He said the one-stop-shop business model is thanks to his parents, Colin and Coleen, and one they built “a long time ago.”

Tanner said there isn’t one portion of the business that is more important or successful than the rest, instead saying that “it all sort of just melts into the overall picture.”

Ten years from now, Tanner said the business will still serve area customers with ever-changing necessary goods and services.

T&R Market gives back to the community through various donation platforms, according to Tanner, including supporting local rodeos, youth events, regional fairs, woolly riding, and steer riding events, working with neighboring Chee Dodge Elementary School and the Gallup Community Pantry, among others.

Stellar customer service is compounded with staying up to date with the customers’ changing needs, and this effort has nurtured a customer loyalty that is second to none and one that Tanner again credits his parents for paving the way.

“The credit here goes to our parents who cultivated a culture of always taking care of people as best you can from the very beginning,” he said.

The friendly atmosphere is likely the genesis for the “Bekis” logo that has become identifiable with the company over the years, featuring a turquoise-laden, brown-skinned hand shaking hands with a Bilagáana hand wearing turquoise jewelry.

Tanner said his father designed the logo when he and his brother were youths and is unsure who helped his dad create the artwork.

Former councilman Leonard Tsosie has always chided the Navajo Nation government, especially divisions and departments under the Executive Branch, for being unable to create a one-stop shop for Navajo citizens in the same complexion as the T&R Market business model.

Tanner’s advice for this proposed effort is straightforward: “Nothing happens overnight. It takes patience, perseverance, and a great team.”

“From our family to yours, thank you for your continued support and business,” he said. “We look forward to seeing you soon. Ahxéhee’.”

Information: www.t-rmarket.com

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