Data Collection Policy

Privacy Policy to Protect Customers

Effective January 1, 2019

Gene's Fine Foods, Glen Ellen Village Market and Mar Val Food Stores are a family of upscale grocery stores known throughout Central and Northern California for exceptional customer service. Each customer is important to us. The respect we show them extends beyond each store and touches everything we do. This is especially true when it comes to protecting the privacy and the personal information we collect from customers online.

This page outlines how we collect, use, and protect the information you provide to us on any of our websites. It is our goal to provide you with as much control over the personal information we collect from you as possible.

The Information Collected by Our System

Information customers provide

Various features on our websites may ask you to provide personal information such as your name, email address, phone number, a billing or mailing address, or credit card. These features may include ordering a holiday meal, purchasing a gift card, signing up for an email newsletter, applying for a scholarship, sending in an employment application or entering a contest. In all of these cases, we require only the information necessary to use the feature.

Information collected automatically

We use Google Analytics to collect and analyze information about how our visitors use our websites. This information may include IP addresses, web browsers and operating systems used, what pages are viewed and when they were viewed, and what links were clicked.

Information from browser cookies

Our websites use browser cookies to differentiate you from other customers on our websites. This allows us to know things like what items are in your shopping cart, or that you have dismissed a prompt to sign up for our mailing list. Google Analytics also uses cookies to collect data about how you are using our websites.

Information from viewing our emails

We use a third-party service to manage our email lists, power our contact forms, and send order confirmation messages when you place an order with us online. This service helps us ensure that we comply with CANSPAM Act regulations in the US, and GDPR regulations in the EU. The service also allows us to see when emails are opened, what links are clicked, and when they are clicked. The service also logs your general geographic location at the time these links are clicked. We do not want this information, and we are working with our provider to disable this feature for us.

How Your Information Is Used

The information we collect for our email lists is used to send information to you that is relevant for the store location in which you shop most. We use the information recorded when you open or click a link in an email to plan future email content and product selection in our stores. This information is stored securely on our email provider’s servers at ConstantContact.com (owned by Endurance International Group). Their security practices ares available at Endurance International Group.

When you place an order with us online, we use the information you provide to fill the order and process your credit card. We may also use your order history to help us better plan our product selection and pricing in the future.

The information we collect for our Community Scrip Program is used to fund the organizations you support with your purchases and to provide access for you to manage your account on our Community Scrip Program website. This information is stored securely on our servers.

The contest information we collect is used to notify winners and to verify eligibility for specific geographic regions. This information is stored securely on our servers.

We use cookie information collected by Google Analytics to plan the content, layout, and features of our websites. This information is stored on Google’s servers, and all personally identifiable information is purged after 26 months.

Information acquired from all of the services listed above may be shared with select third-parties that assist us with marketing research, distribution of marketing materials, and hiring Gene's Fine Foods, Glen Ellen Village Market or Mar Val Food Stores employees. All third-parties used in this capacity are under contract to not share any information we provide to them, and to destroy all sensitive information upon our request or on completion of our contract.

How We Protect Your Information

Our websites use the most current encryption technologies to store and transfer the data you provide to us through them. Access to your personal data is limited to only authorized Gene's Fine Foods, Glen Ellen Village Market and Mar Val Food Stores associates that manage the respective service. For redundancy, executives with our IT and Marketing partners share responsibilities for the protection of the personal data we collect on our websites.

Unless otherwise noted, any personal information we collect from our websites is retained until you request that it be deleted.

How to Review, Correct, or Delete Your Personal Information

If you simply wish to unsubscribe from one of our email newsletters or update your subscription information, you may use the links provided at the bottom of the emails we send.

To review, delete or make changes to any of your personal information we may have, submit a request using the contact page on the special Gene's Fine Foods, Glen Ellen Village Market or Mar Val Food Stores website or contact our corporate office at (209) 369-3611 to speak with an associate. To ensure the privacy of our customers, we will need to verify that you control the email address linked to the data you are requesting.

Your Consent

By using our website, you consent to our collection of personal information outlined in this policy.

This policy was last updated on January 1, 2019. If you have any questions or concerns with our privacy policy or about the information we collect, don’t hesitate to contact our corporate office via telephone at (209) 369-3611 or via the contact page on the special Gene's Fine Foods, Glen Ellen Village Market or Mar Val Food Stores website.