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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.31

                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

         This Employment Agreement ("Agreement") is made effective June 1, 2000,
by and between STATER BROS. MARKETS, a California corporation, hereinafter
referred to as "Employer" and Edward A. Stater, hereinafter referred to as
"Employee". Employer and Employee are sometime herein referred to as "party" or
collective as "parties".

                                    RECITALS

         This Agreement is made with reference to the following facts:

         A.       Employee has been employed by Employer in various capacities
for more than thirty-one (31) years, and currently is serving as Senior Vice
President - Retail Operations.

         B.       Employer desires to obtain the continued services of Employee
as Senior Vice President - Retail Operations.

         C.       Employee is willing to continue serving as Senior Vice
President - Retail Operations of Employer upon the terms and conditions
hereinafter set forth.

         NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereby agree as follows:

         1.       Employment. Employer hereby engages Employee and Employee
hereby accepts employment with Employer as Senior Vice President - Retail
Operations.

         2.       Term. The term of this Agreement shall commence on the date
hereof and shall continue for a period of three (3) years, provided that the
term shall automatically continue for an additional three (3) years unless
sooner terminated as provided in Paragraph 8.

         3.       Duties. Employee shall assume and perform such reasonable
responsibilities and duties as may be ordinarily performed by a Senior Vice
President - Retail Operations, and/or such other duties as may be assigned by
the President and Chief Executive Officer of Employer.

         4.       Compensation.

                  4.1 Salary. Employee shall be entitled to a basic salary in an
amount equal to that which Employee is currently receiving from Employer.
Employee's basic salary may be increased on April 1 of each year during the term
of this Agreement in an amount, if any, determined by Employer's President,
Chief Executive Officer or the Board of Directors.

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                  4.2 Bonus. In addition to Employee's basic salary, Employee
shall be entitled to receive such incentive and performance bonuses as may have
been earned by Employee but not yet paid by Employer as of the date of this
Agreement. In addition, Employee shall be entitled to receive from Employer such
incentive and performance bonuses as may be consistent with Employer's bonus
policy for senior officers as the same may exist from time to time, but not less
than that which would have been earned under the terms of Employer's bonus
policy for senior officers existing as of the date of this Agreement.

                  4.3      Additional Benefits.

                           4.3.1       Business Expenses. Employee shall be
entitled to reimbursement for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by
Employee in the performance of his duties; provided, however, all such expenses
shall be substantiated and in accordance with reasonable standards established
from time to time by Employer's Board of Directors.

                           4.3.2       Company Car. Throughout the term of this
Agreement, Employee shall be entitled to the exclusive use of a company car of
at least the same type and quality as that furnished to Employee as of the date
of this Agreement. Employer shall replace such company car from time to time
with new vehicles, such that the company car provided to Employee shall at no
time be older than two (2) years. All expenses of maintenance, operation and
insurance shall be paid by Employer or reimbursed by Employer to Employee.

                           4.3.3       Benefits Generally Offered. In addition
to any other compensation or benefits to be received by Employee pursuant to the
terms of this Agreement, Employee shall be entitled to participate, to the
extent allowable in accordance with his status, in all employee benefits offered
from time to time by Employer to its senior officers, including, without
limitation, pension plans, profit sharing plans, group life insurance, group
health insurance and group disability insurance.

         5.       Vacation and Sick Leave. Employee shall be entitled to a paid
vacation of four (4) weeks annually. In addition, Employee shall be entitled to
paid time off for personal illness in accordance with Employer's policy for such
leave as the same may exist from time to time.

         6.       Devotion of Time. Employee shall devote his full time,
attention and energies to the business of Employer allowing time off for illness
and vacation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Employee may engage in other
personal business so long as the performance of such activities do not interfere
with the efficient and timely performance of Employee's duties hereunder.

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         7.       Restrictive Covenants.

                  7.1      Non-Competition. During the term of Employee's
employment under this Agreement, Employee shall not own or have any interest
directly in, or act as an officer, director, agent, employee or consultant of,
or assist in any way or in any capacity, any person, firm, association,
partnership, corporation, or entity which shall be competitive with the
supermarket business then engaged in by Employer, in any area where Employer
engages in business. The restrictions of this Paragraph prohibiting ownership in
a competitive business shall not apply to (i) any ownership or interest held by
Employee at the time of execution of this Agreement, (ii) any ownership of
publicly traded stock, or (iii) any investment in real property (whether made
directly or through the vehicle of a partnership, corporation, investment trust
or other entity), notwithstanding the fact that a supermarket in competition
with Employer might be a lessee of some or all of such real property.

                  7.2      Delivery of Records. Upon termination of Employee's
employment with Employer, Employee shall deliver to Employer all books, records,
lists of suppliers and customers, samples, price lists, brochures and other
property belonging to Employer or developed in connection with the business of
Employer.

                  7.3      Confidentiality. Except in the course of Employer's
business, Employee shall not at any time during or after his employment with
Employer, reveal, divulge or make known to any person, firm or corporation any
confidential knowledge or information or any confidential facts concerning any
suppliers, customers, methods, processes, developments, schedules, lists or
plans of or relating to the business of Employer and will retain all
confidential knowledge and information which he has acquired or which he will
acquire during his employment therewith relating to such suppliers, customers,
methods, processes, developments, schedules, lists or plans and the business of
Employer for the sole benefit of Employer, its successors and assigns; provided,
however, that this restriction shall not apply to any knowledge, information or
fact held by or known to Employee which is generally available from sources
other than Employee or which was acquired by Employee other than in his capacity
as Employee.

                  7.4      Reasonableness. In the event any court shall finally
hold that the time or territory or any other provision of this Paragraph 7
constitutes an unreasonable restriction against Employee, the provisions hereof
shall not be rendered void but shall apply as to such time, territory and other
provision to such extent as such court may judicially determine or indicate
constitutes a reasonable restriction under the circumstances involved.

                  7.5      Survival. The provisions of this Paragraph 7 shall
survive the termination of the term of this Agreement and shall run to and inure
to the benefit of Employer, its successors and assigns.

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         8.       Termination.

                  8.1      Termination at Will. Employee's employment under the
terms of this Agreement may be terminated at any time by either party upon
ninety (90) days written notice to the other party.

                  8.2      Termination for Cause.

                           8.2.1       Employee's employment under the terms of
this Agreement may be terminated immediately, at the option of Employer, if
Employee defaults in the performance of any material covenant, agreement, term
or provision of this Agreement to be kept, observed or performed by him, and
such default continues for a period of thirty (30) days after written notice
from Employer, which notice shall describe the default with particularity.

                           8.2.2       Employee's employment under the terms of
this Agreement may be suspended without pay immediately, at the option of
Employer, in the event that criminal charges involving a felony of moral
turpitude should be filed against Employee. In the event Employee is convicted
of such crime, such suspension shall automatically become a termination for
cause. In the event that Employee is acquitted of such crime, or in the event
such charges should be dismissed, such suspension shall be terminated and
employee shall be reinstated retroactively.

         9.       Payments upon Termination of Employment.

                  9.1      Payments to Employee. In the event of the cessation
of Employee's employment prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement,
Employer shall pay to Employee the amounts set forth in this Paragraph 9
biweekly throughout the balance of the term of this Agreement; provided,
however, that Employer shall have no obligation to pay any amounts whatsoever
under the provisions of this Paragraph 9 if Employee: (a) is terminated by Jack
H. Brown in his capacity as President and/or Chief Executive Officer of
Employer; (b) is terminated by Employer's Board of Directors with the
concurrence of Jack H. Brown in his capacity as President and/or Chief Executive
Officer of Employer; (c) voluntarily terminated his employment during such time
as Jack H. Brown may be President and/or Chief Executive Officer of Employer; or
(d) is terminated for cause, as that term is defined in Paragraph 8.2 hereof.

                           9.1.1       Calculation of Payments. The first
twenty-six (26) payments to be made pursuant to the terms of this Paragraph 9
shall be in an amount equal to 1/26th of the greater of (i) the average of the
annual total compensation (including, but not limited to, salary and bonus) paid
by Employer, its affiliates and/or successors to Employee during the three (3)
year period immediately preceding Employee's termination of employment
hereunder, or (ii) the amount of Employee's total compensation (including, but
not limited to, salary and bonus) paid by Employer, its affiliates and/or
successors to Employee during the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding
Employee's termination of employment.

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Thereafter, the biweekly payments shall increase annually in accordance with
Subparagraph 9.1.2.

                           9.1.2       Annual Increases. On each anniversary of
Employee's termination from employment, any remaining amounts to be paid during
the next year pursuant to this Paragraph 9 shall be increased to an amount equal
to one hundred ten percent (110%) of the amounts required to be paid by Employer
hereunder under the provisions of this Paragraph 9 during the preceding year.

                  9.2      Payments Upon Death. In the event of the death of
Employee, Employer shall nonetheless pay to the estate of Employee, or in such
other manner as Employee may designate in writing to Employer, all sums which
would otherwise have been paid to Employee under this Paragraph 9 for the
balance of the term of this Agreement. For purposes of funding this obligation
to make payments upon Employee's death, Employer may purchase and hold such life
insurance policies on the life of Employee as may be appropriate; provided,
however, that if the total funds available to Employer under the terms of such
life insurance policies exceed the amount which would otherwise be payable to
Employee by Employer under the terms of this Paragraph 9, Employer's payment
obligation under this Paragraph 9 shall be increased to the total amount
received by Employer under such insurance policies.

                  9.3      Termination of Payments. All payments due Employee
under this Paragraph 9 shall cease in the event Employee is employed to perform
management services for compensation for any supermarket chain located in any
area where Employer engages in the supermarket business.

         10.      Prior Agreements. All prior employment agreements between
Employer and Employee are hereby superseded and any such agreement or agreements
shall be of no further force or effect.

         11.      Personal Nature. This Agreement is personal, and is entered
into based upon the singular skill, qualifications and experience of Employee.
Employee shall not assign this Agreement or any rights hereunder without the
express written consent of Employer.

         12.      Notices. Any and all notice or other communications required
or permitted by this Agreement or by law to be given by any of the parties
hereto shall be in writing and shall be deemed duly served and given when
personally delivered to the party to whom such notice or communication is
directed or, in lieu of such personal service, when deposited in the United
States mail, certified, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed as
follows:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Employer                           Employee
--------                           --------
<S>                                <C>
Stater Bros. Markets               Edward A. Stater
21700 Barton Road                  110 Garden Hill Drive
Colton, CA  92324                  Redlands, CA 92373
</TABLE>

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         Each party may change the address for notice hereunder by
giving written notice of such change in the manner provided for in this
Paragraph.

         13.      Good Faith. All approvals required to be given by each party
shall be given or denied in good faith and may not be unreasonably denied. Each
party shall use due diligence in its attempt to accomplish any act required to
be accomplished by that party. 14. Attorneys' Fees. In the event that it should
become necessary for any party to bring an action, including arbitration, either
at law or in equity, to enforce or interpret the terms of this Agreement, the
prevailing party in such action shall be entitled to recover its reasonable
attorneys' fees as a part of any judgment therein, in addition to any other
award which may be granted.

         15       Applicable Law/Venue. This Agreement shall be construed and
interpreted in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California,
with proper venue for any litigation or arbitration in San Bernardino County,
California.

         16.      Integrated Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire
agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement.

         17.      Heirs and Assigns. Subject to any restriction on assignment
contained herein, this Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the
benefit of the respective party's heirs and assigns.

         18.      Severability. Any provision in this Agreement which is
illegal, invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such
jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such illegality, invalidity or
unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof or
affecting the legality, validity, or enforceability of such provision in any
other jurisdiction. The parties hereto agree to negotiate in good faith to
replace any illegal, invalid or unenforceable provision of this Agreement with a
legal, valid and enforceable provision that, to the extent possible, will
preserve the economic bargain of this Agreement, or otherwise to amend this
Agreement, including the provision relating to choice of law, to achieve such
result.

         19.      Indemnity. Employer shall indemnify and hold Employee harmless
from and against any and all loss, cost, liability and damage (including
attorneys' fees) arising out of or connected with, or claimed to arise out of or
to be connected with, any act performed or omitted to be performed under this
Agreement, unless it be shown that the act or omission was not in good faith, or
in the event of criminal proceedings that Employee had reasonable cause to
believe his conduct was unlawful. An adverse judgment or plea of nolo contendre
shall not create a presumption that Employee did not act in good faith or that
he had reasonable cause to believe his

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conduct was unlawful. Expenses incurred in defending a civil or criminal action
shall be paid by Employer upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the
Employee to repay such expense if it is later determined that Employee was not
entitled to indemnification.

         This Agreement is executed to be effective as of the date first above
set forth.

                                               Employee

                                               _________________________________
                                               Edward A. Stater

                                               Employer

                                               Stater Bros. Markets,
                                               a California corporation

                                               By:______________________________
                                                  Jack H. Brown, President and
                                                  Chief Executive Officer