PORT TOWNSEND — Interior renovations are proceeding in the new Quimper Mercantile Co. retail store, which is expected to open within the next four to six weeks.
“We are really excited about this,” said company Chief Executive Officer Peter Quinn during a tour for merchants Thursday morning.
“And over the next few weeks, you will start to see some real changes,” he added.
Quinn took about 30 people through the 15,700-square-foot space at the old Swain’s Outdoor location at 1121 Water St. in Port Townsend.
The publicly owned Quimper Mercantile Co., also known as QMC, was formed after Swain’s Outdoors closed in February 2011.
The plan is to offer many of the general-merchandise goods that were sold at Swain’s — making sure they are not readily available in Port Townsend.
The new store will be in one huge room with concrete floors, a high ceiling and an expansive mural. The floors will not be redone, Quinn said.
As the store moves toward opening day the inventory will be placed in the separate departments in a configuration that is not yet planned.
Quinn said an exact opening date had not been determined but predicted it would be in late September or early October.
“We want to do this right, not quick,” he said.
At a Port Townsend Main Street breakfast prior to the tour, Quinn emphasized that the store did not intend to compete with existing business.
“We didn’t start this in order to get into the retail business,” he said.
“We set out to replace a store that was lost, an anchor tenant that brought 200 to 300 people downtown each day.
“We now want to give those people a reason to come downtown again.
“We don’t want to step on [local merchants’] toes. Our biggest competition is online.”
While tourist traffic is expected, the store will not be targeted at that demographic.
“We are focused on the local buyer,” Quinn said.
“We want to make sure that someone who lives here doesn’t need to go somewhere else to buy what they need.”
The store also will provide a retail outlet for locally-produced arts and crafts goods that does not exist at this time, Quinn said.
An area in the back of the store with newly-installed water view windows can be used as a public space or a coffee shop.
Quinn doesn’t expect that a coffee shop would compete with existing businesses.
Rather, “it will provide another opportunity for an existing local business to expand.”
The company has raised about $525,000 in stock, which it will continue to sell until Jan. 3 when the sale deadline expires.
Any additional money raised through the stock will be used to enhance the inventory, Quinn said.
The store has hired three managers and hopes to eventually employ between 12 and 14 people, Quinn said.
For more information and a prospectus, phone 360-379-4693 or visit www.Quimpermerc.com.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
