PORT TOWNSEND — Shares of stock are still available for the publicly traded Quimper Mercantile Co.
The stock offering has been extended beyond an initial Jan. 3 deadline for the sale of shares at $100 each in the independent Port Townsend department store.
An announcement about the new deadline is expected soon from Peter Quinn, CEO of the community-owned store, according to Michelle Sandoval, vice president of sales.
The Quimper Mercantile Co. stock website at http://tinyurl.com/bgne9mk lists Feb. 1 as the current deadline for sales of shares.
Quimper Mercantile Co., or QMC, has been in business for three months, and so far, business has been good, Quinn said.
“We’re very happy with our opening,” he said.
The 15,700-square-foot store, located in the former Swain’s Outdoor building at 1121 Water St., had its grand opening in November after a soft opening Oct. 11.
The initial offering has so far resulted in 1,008 individual investors pumping $570,900 into the company.
The initial offering was required to raise a minimum of $425,000 in stock sales, with a ceiling of $950,000 in shares.
Individual investors are limited to 500 shares.
QMC is the Peninsula’s only publicly owned, locally owned store, Quinn said.
Quinn said that because the store is publicly traded, the exact numbers for the first three months of sales cannot be revealed until shareholders have that information.
A shareholder meeting is planned in March, though a date has not been set yet, Quinn said.
After Swain’s Outdoor closed in early 2011, after having operated in Port Townsend since 1996, QMC formed to provide merchandise that was not then available in Port Townsend.
“We finally have our baby strollers and cribs,” Quinn said, adding that there is no other place to purchase those items in Jefferson County.
The baby items join clothing, including a variety of coats, underwear, shoes and socks — including hard-to-find longer women’s sock sizes.
QMC also carries locally made products, school supplies, clothing, camping equipment, gifts and toys.
Customer Philippa Lance, 39, of Port Townsend brought her two children, Ben, 6, and Molly, 2, to QMC on Monday to shop for toys.
“They have nice stuff,” she said but noted there are other places to buy toys.
A portion of the store is devoted to toys and games. That was a controversial point among merchants in Port Townsend last fall.
“There are four toy stores in town, and [QMC] has 20 percent of their floor space devoted to toys,” said Steve Goldenbogen, owner of Whistle Stop Toys.
Other store owners have questioned QMC’s choice of goods, saying it duplicates many items that smaller shops already offer.
What the store carries already has shifted and will continue changing as the community’s needs — as measured through sales — are revealed, Quinn said this week.
The store’s large sales floor was relatively bare Monday, but that should change soon.
Some $150,000 in new merchandise is expected to arrive for the spring season, Quinn said.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
