ARLINGTON — If not for the Grocery Outlet, Rona Garcia would be unemployed.

“The day my old job ended, I got hired here,” the Marysville woman said, as she opened shipping boxes of snacks at the former Food Pavilion location. “It’s perfect timing.”

The new discount grocery store at 123 E. Burke Ave. is making a similar difference for a lot of locals.

Greg Lich is living with his parents in Arlington and hopes to save up enough to move out on his own.

For fellow Arlington resident Roger Fitzpatrick, this is his first real job.

“Unless you count washing dishes at summer camp,” Fitzpatrick said, as he stocked the shelves with cooking ingredients. “I don’t ever want to wash dishes again.”

After Arlington’s Food Pavilion and Haggen’s stores closed last year, the town was left without a grocery store to call its own, which is why local couple Michael and Melonique Simpson are happy to fill that gap.

The Arlington Grocery Outlet co-owners have lived in town their whole lives and expressed pride in hiring all of their nearly 40 employees locally.

“I think the furthest anyone is coming from is North Everett,” Melonique said.

Mike added: “A lot of them are within walking distance, so even if this winter gets harsh, they shouldn’t need any snow days.”

The Simpsons rans the Gleneagle Golf Course from 2011-13, and were training with Grocery Outlet to own their own store when the Food Pavilion closed a year ago.

“We saw it as fate,” Melonique said. “When this spot opened up, we fought for it.”

Mike added: “We not only know the Arlington community, we are the Arlington community.”

The Arlington Grocery Outlet’s ribbon-cutting is set for 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, with a grand opening slated from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, the latter of which will offer gift cards, free groceries and frozen turkey giveaways.

Mike touted the Grocery Outlet’s selection of produce, dairy, eggs, bread and name-brand products, available at discounts of up to 70 percent.

“Even if you don’t save that much, we’ll still fight to deliver the lowest price of anyone,” Mike said. “That’s why we’re hoping to become shoppers’ first choice. If you can’t find it here, then go to a conventional store, but we should be able to save you as much as you spend.”

At the same time, Melonique likened the store’s ever-changing selection of goods and prices to a “treasure hunt” for attentive shoppers.

“A conventional store will have the same stuff out for the same prices, just about every week,” Melonique said. “We’ll have some goods discounted heavily one week that might not be available the next week, so when you see it, you’ll know you want to buy more of it, since you won’t see it again at that price for a while.”

Melonique praised Arlington shoppers for adopting more of a “Buy Local” mindset in recent years.

“Mike and I are in charge of how the store runs, so if our customers ask for certain things, we can provide them,” Melonique said.

Mike added: “We’re on site every day, so you can interact with us face to face. We want to hear your feedback.”

The Arlington Grocery Outlet’s hours will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.