Chehalis residents and longtime grocery business owners Darius and Sherly McDaniel were the high bidders on Jan. 16 at the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s auction in Montesano of the former Red Apple Supermarket property in Westport. The McDaniels are longtime owners and operators of Fuller Market Basket in Centralia and Shop ‘n Kart/Yard Birds Mall in Chehalis.
The former local supermarket closed its doors June 9 of last year due to lack of inventory, and went into foreclosure in November for unpaid debts related to the business.
Financials
The McDaniels paid $549,000 for the property, enough to cover its debt load created by former supermarket owners, Rick and Shawn Bridgeman. The Bridgemans owned and operated the business for 10 years.
The 1.28-acre site was last assessed by Grays Harbor County in 2014, with the land valued at $447,200 and improvements, including the 17,513-square-foot one-story commercial building and paved parking area, valued at $606,000, for a total valuation of $1,053,200.
Hitting the ground running
By 12:30 p.m. on auction day, the locks were being changed at the store located at 108 S. Montesano St. in uptown Westport. In short order that same day, the electricity was turned on, city utility services were resumed, a propane delivery was made and a City of Westport business license was issued.
Hitting the ground running, the core management team of Shop ‘n Kart has been working nearly non-stop since Friday to deal with deep cleaning, refrigeration and other issues in preparation for getting the store fully stocked and up and running by early- to mid-February. Shop ‘n Kart has a longstanding relationship with wholesalers Supervalu Inc. and Unified Grocers, both of which will make regular stock deliveries to the new store.
“We’re going to give it everything we’ve got 100 percent and do it right, including installing a whole new register system,” said Point of Sale Manager Sonja Raichl. “We’re stocking all the shelves to maximum capacity before we open, including a special section with commercial-sized packaging for local businesses,” she said. Raichl added that, following its opening, more improvements will be made during the next six months.
Additionally, the local management team started accepting resumes on Saturday from those interested in full- and part-time positions at the new store. According to Raichl, the company hope to hire approximately 40 locals.
Strong management team
The manager of the new Westport Shop ‘n Kart is Robert Allen. He comes to this new venture with a total of 36 years experience in the grocery business, the last 24 at the Chehalis Shop ‘n Kart.
Assistant manager for the local business is Jon Klacik. He has worked closely with Allen at the Chehalis Shop ‘n Kart for the past several months.
In addition to point of sale management, Raichl is the company’s go-to girl, wearing a number of “hats,” including dealing with technology, advertising and public relations.
The first local hire for the new Westport Shop ‘n Kart is longtime Westport resident Michelle Phillips, who has been named the new store’s produce manager. She worked in the produce department at the former Red Apple Market until it ceased operations.
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