Joyce Raley Teel, matriarch of Sacramento-area supermarket family, dies at 91

Joyce Raley Teel, the former co-chair and majority owner of Raley’s and a philanthropic leader in the Sacramento community, has died.

Teel, 91, died at home Friday of natural causes, the West Sacramento supermarket chain announced.

The only child of Raley’s founder Thomas P. Raley, she used to help behind the counter at the first store in Placerville. But it wasn’t until 1985, when she was in her 50s, that she went to work in earnest for the family business.

She made “the transition from motherhood to businesswoman and community leader,” said her son Michael Teel, the company’s chairman and owner.

When Thomas Raley died in 1991, Joyce and her husband, Jim, took over as co-chairs of the company for the next 24 years. “She really sharpened her business skills,” while at the same time pushing Raley’s to become more of a leader on charitable causes, Michael Teel said Monday.

“She brought that spirit of giving,” he said. “She found her place in public affairs and involvement in the community.”

Among other things, she helped create the nonprofit Food For Families, which has provided millions of meals to needy families over the years. In 2019, the last year for which figures are available, the nonprofit raised $5 million to feed the hungry.

A scholarship fund named for her has awarded more than $250,000 to Raley’s employees and their families, according to the Teel family.

Her tenure as majority owner with her husband was marked by growth. The company moved into the Bay Area in 1997 by purchasing the Nob Hill chain. At one time, seven years ago, Forbes magazine listed her as America’s 1,386th wealthiest person, with a net worth estimated at $1.35 billion.

But there was some turmoil as well during Raley Teel’s time as owner. In 1999, the company expanded into New Mexico and Las Vegas, only to walk away from the markets and sell the stores eight years later. Raley’s said the stores were profitable, but industry analysts said the company wasn’t able to establish solid footholds in the new markets.

In 2012 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers went on strike for nine days, as unionized grocers like Raley’s were struggling to cope with nonunion, low-cost rivals like Walmart and Target.

By that point, Michael Teel had become chief executive officer, and three years later his parents transferred 92% of the company’s ownership to him. They transferred the remaining 8% to his sisters, although last year Michael Teel became sole owner of the company.

Raley’s is America’s 44th largest supermarket chain, with $4 billion in sales last year, according to Supermarket News. Last fall, it expanded into Arizona by purchasing the Bashas chain for an undisclosed price. The deal nearly doubled the number of stores owned by Raley’s, to 224.

Joyce Raley Teel is survived by her husband, Jim; son Michael and his wife, Julie; daughter Claudia Doerhoff and husband Neil; her daughter Diane Perry and husband Robert; daughter Laurie Struck and husband Eric; and daughter Lisa Teel. She is also survived by more than 50 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and their spouses.

Memorial services will be private. The family asked that donations be made to Food For Families, the Salvation Army or the Joyce Nadine Raley Teel Endowment, benefitting the Crocker Art Museum.