In the retail realm, you don’t hear this one very often: Reno, Nevada-based Rainbow Market, a chain of nine convenience/grocery stores, originated on the island of Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States.
That’s where current co-owner Lori Miller’s grandfather launched the brand, decades ago, while living there. The concept proved to travel well because Rainbow Market planted its flag stateside, in Reno, in 1982.
The U.S. migration came as Miller’s father carried on the retail vision his own father began. The name Rainbow Market is inspired by Guam’s history of eye-catching rainbows, often seen during thunderstorms.
“The original Rainbow Market in Guam was mainly a grocery store and then, in 1982, my dad—a grocer by trade himself—opened the first U.S. location, and we have expanded to nine stores in Nevada,” said Lori Miller, who operates the company as CEO along with husband, Mark, and their children, who also became involved.
“I became immersed in the business early on, and Mark and I consider ourselves ‘c-store geeks’ and we leverage our convenience-store advantages to a significant degree,” said Miller, who regularly tours out-of-town c-store chains on business trips to garner new ideas.
Diversity reigns
Miller and her husband never wanted to be pigeonholed as a one-trick pony at their nine stores located in Las Vegas, Reno, Sun Valley and Sparks. Stores average about 3,000 square feet in size.
As such, they have branched out to see both grocery and c-store as core retail competencies. The chain merchandises fresh produce, dairy products, baked goods, meat, coffee, tea, soda and juices. Rainbow Market also offers essential household items, such as cleaning products and personal care items.
The company sells unbranded fuel and offers gaming with slot machines located in every retail unit that it operates itself. Rainbow Market sports two car washes and one bar located adjacent to one of the stores.
The chain is also well stocked with general merchandise of all types. One recent investment was to procure and sell Pokémon cards at lower prices than at specialty stores.
Hands-on ownership
For the Millers, the road to Reno was hatched when the couple was living in Southern California, where Mark Miller was a teacher who was looking to exit the profession.
He became a franchisee of Arco’s am/pm brand and operated a Nevada-based store that was eventually converted to Rainbow Market. In addition to Reno and Sparks, new stores were incrementally added in the communities of Sun Valley and Las Vegas on the way to becoming a chain of nine units.
Mark Miller took seriously his father-in-law’s work ethic when it came to operating retail, starting with the original stateside Rainbow Market. The man who founded the brand did every single task in the store that any associate would be asked to do, said Mark Miller.
As such, he’s deeply involved in store operations at all levels.
“I watched my father-in-law pick up coins and trash in the parking lot on a regular basis, so I do that regularly. I have reset every SKU in these stores. People ask me why, and I say…why not? We, as owners, are not above or better than anyone to do any part of this business,” said Miller.
Hands-on community advocate
Some retailers contribute to their local communities by writing donation checks. The Millers go the extra mile as hands-on community advocates.
Rainbow Market, which has about 100 employees, became involved with the National Immigrant Inclusion Conference (NIIC), which works on behalf of U.S. immigrants and refugees. The company contributes to the cause by teaching many of its local members to drive and then attain their licenses, said Mark Miller.
Each year, Rainbow Market throws a Christmas party where every employee provides a list of gifts their children want for Christmas. The Millers buy the gifts and present them to kids during the party, something they’ve been doing for about 20 years.
A local high school program involves the chain buying new shoes for athletes. “We measure their feet and buy the shoes,” said Mark Miller, a former athlete himself. The program has grown to where Rainbow Market buys uniforms for the high school wrestling team and buys essentials for the theater program, said Lori Miller.
The company places a lot of emphasis on general merchandise, and the Pokémon project is one example. “We have such a solid connection with the community because we’ve been here so long. If you knew us, you would not shop anywhere else,” said Lori Miller, who counts Maverik Inc. as one of its core competitors.
Speaking about the couple’s 2026 plans, “there’s no limit to what we can do—we would like to grow (retail) for sure, but where that might be is uncertain,” said Mark Miller. “We return every phone call and look at everything. If we can’t add new stores, then we’ll move laterally (by upgrading existing stores).”
The stores are too small for fresh, prepared foodservice, especially since they devote so much space to other profit centers, Miller said.
Mark Miller said the family is indeed in the c-store/grocery business for the long haul, adding that “we could not see someone else running the Rainbow Market operation.”
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