Noah Bradley, general manager of retail for Pullman Market, says he’s made a priority of dedicating shelf space to lesser-known Texas brands. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Pullman Market

Name: Noah Bradley

Title: General Manager of Retail, Pullman Market

Hometown: Paso Robles, California

First jobs: Kmart and Sears

Key priority: Helping small businesses break into the grocery space

Coffee Order: Black

Money quote: “I’m a huge foodie, and now I work in the best of both worlds: hospitality and grocery.”

Noah Bradley, general manager of retail at the Pearl’s recently opened Pullman Market, brings more than a decade of experience to the specialty market. Sourcing fresh, local produce and dry goods is just one of his passions. He also wants Pullman to be a platform for SA-area small businesses to break into the grocery world. To that end, he’s made sure to dedicate shelf space to lesser-known brands that boast sustainable and ethical practices while being based in Texas.

We sat down with Bradley to discuss the market’s values and processes along with his background in retail.

Are you from San Antonio, or did you get here by way of somewhere else?

I grew up in Paso Robles, which is on the central coast of California. And then I lived in various places, LA, and then most recently lived in San Diego before moving here. I visited my brother who lives in San Antonio for the past couple of years, and I’ve always loved it. So when this arose, it wasn’t a difficult sell.

Have you always worked in the retail space?

I started with Kmart and Sears back when I was 15. I worked with them for about a year and a half, and then I got hired by another small chain with stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. I started pushing carts, bagging groceries, really just at the bottom, and over 10 years, I worked my way up to a store manager where I managed different locations for them. So, I operated all the different departments in the store, overseeing budgets, overseeing procurement, the whole nine yards. I got my bachelor’s degree in business management, and I knew I wanted to take a different approach to retail. I just wasn’t really sure what that would be. What really drew me here was being able to take my 10, 11 years of retail and grocery experience and be able to impart that into what became a specialty market.

What does that term mean to you, “specialty market?”

So, we have, the last time I checked, over 200 different vendors that we supply from. We’re absolutely committed to supporting small business, but we’re also able to be really attentive to what they’re doing. You know, what products are they pushing? What are their sustainability practices? Do they have quality ingredients? And then of course, does it taste good? We all know the Kelloggs and the Campbells of the world, stuff you see in these large grocery chains. But you always have to look very closely for the small brands that don’t get a lot of shelf space in regular grocery stores. Local products, small businesses, they’re using great ingredients and ethical practices when they’re sourcing ingredients for their products. So I think when those products finally hit our shelves, we feel confident that we went through multiple different processes to really vet that vendor and product, and we’re able to explain to the customer why it’s on our shelf.

What sets Pullman apart from other specialty markets you’ve visited?

I mean, I’m a huge foodie, and now I work in the best of both worlds: hospitality and grocery. One of the questions that we asked when each of our team members came on board is, “Why do you love food?” For a lot of people, the answer is pretty generic, but for us, in our industry, it’s typically about making connections. What do you do when you go out with friends? Go get dinner, maybe throw a barbecue at the house? Food connects people. And the more we’re able to take that concept and help create a story behind food, we’re helping every guest build those connections. It’s incredibly rewarding.

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This article appears in Jun 12-25, 2024.

Nina Rangel uses nearly 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry to tell the stories of movers and shakers in the food scene in San Antonio. As the Food + Nightlife Editor for the San Antonio...