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