Grocery buying empty department store building in downtown Port Angeles

PORT ANGELES — It was 36 years ago when Robyn Miletich and her husband, John, took a chance by opening a natural-foods grocery in downtown Port Angeles.

Now, after outgrowing their cramped quarters at 117 E. First St., the owners of Country Aire Natural Foods are ready to take another leap.

On Tuesday, the K.O. Erickson Charity Trust accepted their $650,000 offer to buy the former Gottschalks location in downtown Port Angeles, a building that has 10 times the space of the store’s current location above Michael’s Seafood and Steakhouse.

The new site also has ample parking and storage space, which the small grocery lacks.

“It’s time,” Robyn Miletich said of the expansion.

“People want this; they want the [organic] food.”

The closing date for the sale is June 16, said Realtor Pili Meyer of Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty.

Robyn Miletich, 62, said she and her husband hope to open the store in its new location by late September.

She said they plan to move their store to the top floor, which makes up roughly half the building at 200 W. First St., and lease the downstairs.

Even using only the top floor, at about 17,000 square feet, Country Aire would be larger than Sunny Farms, Clallam County’s other large grocery that offers local, organic goods.

Dave Hodkinson, Sunny Farms business manager, estimated the grocery in Carlsborg has 6,000 square feet of sales space, with a total footprint of between 10,000 and 12,000 square feet when taking into account storage and the farm store.

“I would expect more competition,” he said, though he added he wasn’t concerned.

The pending purchase ends two years of searching for the trust, which owns the building, and their Realtors.

Gottschalks closed May 30, 2009, leaving the site vacant.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Dan Gase, Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty president.

“It was a two-year nationwide search.”

David Storm, K.O. Erickson managing trustee, declined to comment Wednesday since the sale was not final.

The 34,900-square-foot building was initially listed for sale at $1.5 million. That price was first reduced to $950,000 and again May 10 to $699,000.

For the Miletichs, who were looking at renting another location, that price was just about right.

They also saw the potential of the large, vacant building.

“This was once the center of downtown, and I think we can recreate that,” Robyn Miletich said.

But before the new Country Aire opens, a lot of work needs to be done, she acknowledged.

They plan to give the building a makeover by combining the look and feel of a country grocery with some of features of the Peoples department store, the 65-year-old building’s original tenant.

Miletich said that will involve bringing back the awning and windows that were there during the building’s Peoples era.

On the inside, Country Aire will bring its wooden shelves and “earthy” features that, besides its large selection of organic food, set it apart from other groceries in Port Angeles, she said.

“We’re going to put our heart and soul and time . . . providing the ambience of having a country store downtown,” Robyn Miletich said.

For shoppers, the bigger space will mean more “wholesome” and organic food, she said, including a larger selection of locally grown produce.

“We want to support the whole community,” she said. “That’s what it’s about.”

A deli and a small cafe featuring the store’s fair-trade-certified coffee also are in the works.

________

Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Residents of various manufactured home parks applaud the Sequim City Council’s decision on Dec. 9 to approve a new overlay that preserves manufactured home parks so that they cannot be redeveloped for other uses. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim preserves overlay for homes

Plots can be sold, but use must be same

A ballot box in the Sequim Village Shopping Center at 651 W. Washington St. now holds two fire suppressant systems to prevent fires inside after incidents in October in Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore. A second device was added by Clallam County staff to boxes countywide to safeguard ballots for all future elections. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Political party officials fine with Clallam’s loss of bellwether

With election certified, reps reflect on goals, security

For 20-plus years, Bob and Kelly Macaulay have decorated their boat and dock off East Sequim Bay Road for Christmas, seen here more than a mile away. However, the couple sold their boat earlier this year. (Doug Schwarz)
Couple retires Christmas boat display on Sequim Bay

Red decorations lit up area for 20-plus years

Hurricane Ridge day lodge funding held up in Congress

The fate of $80 million in funding to rebuild… Continue reading

Judy Davidson, left, and Kathy Thomas, both of Port Townsend, look over the skin care products offered by Shandi Motsi of Port Townsend, one of the 20 vendors at the second annual Procrastinators Craft Fair at the Palindrome/Eaglemount Cidery on Friday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Procrastinators Market

Judy Davidson, left, and Kathy Thomas, both of Port Townsend, look over… Continue reading

Services could be impacted by closure

Essential workers won’t get paid in shutdown

A now-deceased male cougar was confirmed by Panthera and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff to have been infected with Avian influenza on the Olympic Peninsula. (Powell Jones/Panthera)
Two cougars infected with bird flu die

Risk of human infection still low, CDC says

D
Readers contribute $58K to Home Fund to date

Donations can be made for community grants this spring

Jefferson Elementary School in Port Angeles designated Thursday dress up like a candy cane day. Back row, from left to right, they are: Wyatt Farman, Ari Ownby, Tayo Murdach, Chloe Brabant, Peyton Underwood, Lola Dixon, River Stella (in wheelchair), Fenja Garling, Tegan Brabant, Odessa Glaude, Eastyn Schmeddinger-Schneder. Front row: Ellie Schneddinger-Schneder, Cypress Crear, Bryn Christiansen and Evelyn Shrout. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Dress like a candy cane

Jefferson Elementary School in Port Angeles designated Thursday dress up like a… Continue reading

EYE ON THE PENINSULA: Jefferson commissioners to meet on Monday

Meetings across the North Olympic Peninsula

A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was airlifted to a Seattle hospital after the car in which they were riding collided with the back of a school bus on Center Road on Friday morning. (East Jefferson Fire Rescue)
One dies in two-vehicle collision involving school bus

A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was… Continue reading

Iris McNerney of from Port Townsend is like a pied piper at the Port Hudson Marina. When she shows up with a bag of wild bird seed, pigeons land and coo at her feet. McNerney has been feeding the pigeons for about a year and they know her car when she parks. Gulls have a habit of showing up too whenever a free meal is available. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Feeding the birds

Iris McNerney of from Port Townsend is like a pied piper at… Continue reading