Standing at the bakery at Harmons Neighborhood Grocer in West Valley City, artisan trainer Jason Lindsay explained how sourdough bread is made fresh daily, which includes keeping the dough overnight in a special refrigerator to allow it to ferment to give it the flavor that makes it sourdough bread. “One loaf of sourdough bread will take 48 hours plus to make,” he explained.

His description of the sourdough bread-making process as well as other breads came as Harmons chairman Bob Harmon led a group on a tour of the newly-renovated flagship Harmons at 3955 W. 3500 South. The store has a fresh new look thanks to a just-completed year-long remodeling project that changed the appearance of the market outside and more importantly inside.

Remodeling of Harmons in West Valley City now complete

The front exterior features an updated and reconfigured entrance and a drive-thru pharmacy pickup. The new entryway is particularly beneficial, according to Harmon. “It’s a much better entry for the customers, it keeps the weather out, it’s aesthetically beautiful, and it works well for merchandising. We can start with all our fresh items right from the get-go.” That includes ready-to-eat items from an expanded salad bar. “You wouldn’t know this, but it’s like the number one item that we sell every week by item count, which is phenomenal.” Customers can take their food with them or chow down at the adjacent seating area for 50 people, which is also new. That looks across to the new floral department, another addition to the renovated store.

Back at the bakery, artisan Micah Tian has been with Harmons for 10 years. “One of the things that I love about working for Harmons is how much product that we still make totally from scratch,” he said. “All of our cookies are scratch made. We use real butter, authentic Madagascar bourbon vanilla and many other ingredients that are produced locally or within Utah.”

And so goes the philosophy of Harmons not only at West Valley City but at all of its 20 stores from Roy to St. George—make it fresh daily, using locally sourced products when possible. “We want to control our food, we want to control the flavor, we want to control the safety, the taste, everything,” Harmon said.

“A lot of people sell products that we have here, but the difference is our people are passionate, they have training, and they’re invested in the product differently, and they care about what they’re delivering,” Harmon said.

That mission was further explained during stops at the deli, meat department, and even the cheese section, which Becca Ledesma manages as a “certified cheese professional.”

Becca Ledesma is a certified cheese professional and manages the cheese department at Harmons Grocery in West Valley. (Darrell Kirby/City Journals)

A certified cheese professional is a title earned by those who have achieved the “highest level of expertise in the cheese industry,” according to the American Cheese Society, which awards the certification after passing an exam covering “cheese knowledge and best practices.”

“We used to have a small case, but we expanded—bigger, better, shiny,” Ledesma said. That has enabled her department to carry a wider variety of cheeses from around the world. “We support a lot of local companies as well,” she added.

“This remodel has been a longtime coming and it is one of the best things we’ve seen at our West Valley store,” Ledesma concluded.

The renovation boosted the size of the store to 47,460 square feet, although Harmon admitted it may seem a bit smaller than before because of how the departments, sections and shelving are arranged. Improvements also include more efficient lighting and technologies.

“It’s a beautiful store. We’re just so proud of it,” Harmon said.

He said that West Valley City is undergoing a gradual reinvention of itself as a city as it continues to grow and the revamping of Harmons flagship store in the city goes hand in hand with that transformation. “We really want to be a part of that as well,” he said.

Harmon is part of the fifth generation of his family to run the company. His grandparents, George and Irene Harmon, started it all in 1932 with a little market at 3300 South and Main Street. In 1942, a car crashed into the building causing serious structural damage. So the couple opened a new store called Harmons Market at the site of today’s West Valley store. That original store burned in a fire in 1971. It was rebuilt with various updates and renovations over the years until this latest makeover.

“Welcome to West Valley store number one,” Harmon said. “This is where it all started.”