April 15, 2026 In The News

Nugget opens new market in Rocklin with festivities — and cinnamon rolls

Originally published in: The Sacramento Bee

The new Nugget Markets location in Rocklin opened Wednesday at 1501 Whitney Ranch Parkway. The market is the anchor tenant of the new Whitney Ranch Retail Center, which is still in development.

To mark the event, the market is celebrating with samples, food demonstrations — and its bakery’s new signature cinnamon rolls.

The market is a new build and clocks in at 43,000 square feet, which is about standard for their markets. The markets have a standardized layout, which is a little different from many.

At the Rocklin store, massive displays of produce beckon you in even before you enter the store. Once through the door, you can continue along through the rest of the produce and meat departments to begin building your basket, or hook left to head to the deli counter, bakery and other prepared food options.

According to former CEO and current chair of the board Eric Stille, one of Nugget’s biggest points of difference is item selection and the quality of products.

“If you want to eat 100% organic, you can. If you want to eat 100% conventional, you can. We’ll call out whether it’s local, gluten-free, imported, organic, and then those tags are throughout the store,” he said. “I challenge you to find a larger selection in any other grocery.”

The selection is a big part of why Nugget doesn’t do home delivery. The company wants to entice you as you build your basket, to build hunger as you shop.

Each Nugget Market has its own flavor and unique features. The Rocklin store will be the first to have a nearly 1,000-square foot mezzanine upstairs with an outdoor patio where customers can enjoy their food while taking in sweeping views.

The market’s bakery is expansive and focused on evolving the company’s baked goods offerings. Chief among them is the cinnamon rolls, fluffy, fragrant and delicately sweet.

“That’s our laminated dough that we make in house. And we’re just adding a brown sugar glaze and topping it with icing fresh every morning,” said bakery director Tina Moore. 

The bread program is also undergoing development.

“We’re going to be rolling out new and improved bread from what we do at our other locations. We’re increasing the hydration so that we can do a lower temperature for longer to get a really nice, thin, crispy crust and an ultra soft crumb inside,” Moore said. “We want to make that European style bread.”

The bread lived up to the hype. Fresh from the oven, the still-warm loaves had a shatteringly crisp crust and a pillowy crumb, truly an addictive eat. Ultimately, the new bread formula will roll out to the other markets’ bakeries.

Nugget’s focus on local is present in all departments, from dry and canned goods on the shelves to cheese as well as wine, beer and spirits. The market carries dozens of wineries from the region, including producers in Plymouth, Clarksburg and West Sacramento, as well as beers and even locally distilled spirits.

A century of Nugget

The opening of the market occurs during the company’s 100th anniversary year. The company was founded in 1926 as a produce store by Stille’s great-grandfather and grandfather, Will and Mack Stille in Woodland.

The market slowly took root and began adding departments in the 1970s including a deli, hot food, a bakery, floral and fresh seafood. The Stilles opened the current store in Davis in 1981. With today’s opening, there are 18 Nugget Markets across the Sacramento region and Bay Area.

According to Eric Stille, there are just about 5,000 businesses in the country that are 100 years old or older. He attributes the company’s longevity to its core principles.

“We have three company goals: guest satisfaction, constant improvement and to be a world-class employer,” he said, noting that in 100 years, Nugget has never had a layoff.

Even when stores have closed, Nugget has reallocated the staff, adjusting their pay to accommodate for any increased cost in commute.

Nugget made a name for itself with splashy marketing gimmicks over the years, one year advertising they were giving away a real, live baby. In fact, they were two piglets dressed as babies.

To commemorate the spirit of this history, Nugget is doing monthly giveaways, harkening back to these gimmicks. In January, they gave away a year’s worth of movie tickets and Niman Ranch bacon, as well as a plush stuffed pig — in lieu of a live piglet.

For this month’s giveaway, which launched Wednesday, Nugget is giving away $1,000.

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Press Contact

Nugget Market, Inc. Media Relations: media@nuggetmarket.com