PORT TOWNSEND — The Quimper Mercantile Co. has raised nearly three-quarters of the money it will need to open a new general store in Port Townsend.
The publicly owned company’s chief executive officer expects no difficulty in raising the amount it needs to proceed with hiring staff and acquiring inventory.
“This has been a positive thing,” said Peter Quinn of the fundraising process.
“People aren’t asking us about how the store will work.
“They mostly want to know when we are going to get started.”
The new store is meant to fill the gap left by the closure of Swain’s Outdoor in February 2011.
It will offer many of the goods that are not available from other stores in Port Townsend while not directly competing with existing businesses.
The new store is scheduled to open this summer in the space last occupied by Swain’s Outdoor at 1121 Water St., Port Townsend.
In January, the company finalized a lease of 15,700 square feet of the space there.
The lease does not include the adjacent 2,000 square feet once occupied by Ace Hardware.
The company began selling stock in January at $100 a share and must make its $425,000 “impound amount” before the money can be released and used to prepare for the store’s opening.
The company held its fourth and final Port Townsend presentation Wednesday night.
All 12 people who attended bought stock, Quinn said.
Meetings had been held in February in Quilcene, Port Ludlow and Port Townsend.
More direct approach
The company now will try a more direct sale process, he added.
Stock will be sold at a stand in front of the proposed store from noon to 3 p.m. each Saturday as well as in other public places around town, Quinn said.
When the impound amount is reached and money can be released, anyone who has purchased stock will be issued a certificate “just like you see in the movies,” Quinn said.
If the impound amount is not reached by the present May 1 deadline, the time limit can be extended, something Quinn does not expect will be necessary.
If they money is raised before the deadline, the company will begin the preparation process, but that won’t necessarily translate to opening sooner, he added.
If the company fails to gather the impound amount, the money will be returned.
The first steps for the company, once it begins preparation, will be to hire three or four people, including a general manager and a buyer.
These first employees will get in at the ground floor and provide input about the design and development of the store, Quinn said.
A recruitment ad will appear in local newspapers “and anywhere else we can post it,” Quinn said.
“We’ve done really well and have accomplished in seven weeks what it has taken others eight months to do,” Quinn said.
“People need to know they shouldn’t wait to get involved.
“The time to make an investment is now.”
For more information, visit www.quimpermerc.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
