March 18, 2020 • NEW GROCERY OUTLET STORE SET TO OPEN IN BONNERS FERRY ON MARCH 26 The building that was the former home of Bonners Ferry’s Shopko Hometown store is being renovated and transformed into the nation’s newest Grocery Outlet store, with plans to open for business in Bonners Ferry on March 26. Haley McQueen and Blake Bevans are the independent owners-operators of that local soon-to-open Bonners Ferry Grocery Outlet. Both grew up in small towns in the Portland, Oregon area, and recently moved to Bonners Ferry to live where they will be operating their store. “We love the Pacific Northwest region and are excited to work and live in a place we love,” they said. (Story continues below this photograph) “We visited Bonners Ferry several times before relocating up here. We’ve become acquainted with the community by visiting local businesses around town to learn more and to introduce ourselves. It’s been great connecting with the business community, and the many local residents that have approached us with a friendly hello,” they said. Haley McQueen began her career as a cashier with Grocery Outlet in her hometown 10 years ago. “With training and support from the owner-operators within the company, I was able to build my skills to achieve my ultimate goal of owning my own store,” she said. Blake Bevans worked in the food service industry for six years, then later worked at a Grocery Outlet store in Washington which at the time was managed by none other than Haley McQueen. Grocery Outlet is one of the country’s leading “extreme-value” retailers. The Emeryville, California-based company purchases surplus or other inventory from over 3,000 grocery manufacturers, which the company then sells in its stores. According to company information, "Whether it’s through packaging changes, surplus inventory or product overruns, our buyers source it all.” Grocery Outlet was started as a family business in 1946 by Jim Read. He initially sold military surplus goods at discount prices under the company name Cannery Sales at his first store in San Francisco. Over the years, that company grew into the largest extreme value grocer in the United States with stores located in several western states. In 2009, Berkshire Partners LLP, a Boston-based private equity firm, made a large equity investment in Grocery Outlet, becoming its principal owner, and worked with the company and its founding family and directors to help grow and develop the company further. Five years later, Berkshire Partners announced that Grocery Outlet was being acquired by affiliates of Hellman & Friedman LLC, a private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London. In June of last year, the company became a publicly-traded entity, when an initial public offering of Grocery Outlet common shares began trading on NASDAQ under the symbol GO. Under the Grocery Outlet business model, the company buys, builds, or renovates a building / location for a store, and provides store inventory and corporate support, with local stores operated by independent operators who manage their own store location in something of a franchise arrangement, selling the store inventory under consignment. As of December 28, 2019, there were 347 Grocery Outlet stores in California, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Nevada. That total included 342 stores run by independent operators, and five company-operated stores. Grocery Outlet stores in Idaho are located in Caldwell, Twin Falls, Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, and two in the Boise area. Three stores are located in Spokane, along with one in Airway Heights. These are among the largest cities in Idaho and in Washington, which led us to ask Haley and Blake how they felt about starting up a Grocery Outlet store in a much smaller location like Bonners Ferry. “Grocery Outlet is looking to serve all types of communities with a unique and bargain-minded shopping experience,” they said. “We see a need in the Boundary County area for a convenient low cost grocery option which Grocery Outlet can provide.” The countdown is now at 8 days until the Bonners Ferry Grocery Outlet opens on March 26, and Haley and Blake have some plans for opening day: • In celebration of the opening, starting on the 26th, customers may enter for a chance to win Free Groceries for 1 Year. The grand prize drawing will take place at the end of the day on Thursday, April 23 at our store. • We also have festivities continuing over our first weekend with a special BBQ Fundraiser on Saturday, March 28 from noon to 3:00 p.m. We will donate the fundraiser proceeds to Community Action Partnership of Bonners Ferry, a local nonprofit whose mission is to serve the economically and socially disadvantaged by responding to their specific needs. • On Sunday, March 29 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., our shoppers will have a chance to Spin & Win on the Wheel of Bargains. “The Bonners Ferry community has been extremely welcoming to us,” Blake and Haley said. “As we’re working to open our store, we have met so many wonderful people and we are so excited to have hired a great team of staff.”                                           GROCERY OUTLET Bargain Market of Bonners Ferry opens for business Thursday, March 26, 2020. Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail!