It's official; Super 1
breaks ground
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November 16, 2011 |
By Mike Weland
Braving frigid temperatures and with heavy
equipment rumbling in the background, a big
group of local officials, contractors and the
just plain curious gathered this morning with
Super 1 Foods officials on the spot where the
old Lantern Restaurant used to sit to officially
break ground on what will soon become Boundary
County's newest grocery ... with room and plans
for more local development.
The 49,000 square-foot store will be a
full-service supermarket employing around 90
people, expected to host a grand-opening
sometime during the summer of 2012. Initial
estimates are shooting for a July opening date.
It will offer a large natural and organic foods
department, a wide selection of fresh seafoods,
wines and fresh bakery items.
According to Super 1 spokesman Ryan Wilson,
applications for positions in the new store will
be opened shortly after the beginning of the new
year.
Already, nearly two years' work has gone into
preparing for this day, and the store's
management had nothing but praise for the
welcome they've received and the way the
Boundary County community, both official and as
a whole, has worked with them to make the
groundbreaking on their 12th store possible.
Even before today, the coming of Super 1 Foods
has been a boon to the Boundary County economy,
though some local citizens expressed concern
early on that the city approved an Urban Renewal
District that was a key part of making this day
possible.
The effort behind that controversy wasn't lost
on the McIntire family of Hayden, owners of
Super 1, whose representatives said today that
it's been a long time since they began building
North Idaho and western Montana grocery stores
in 1970 that they've found a friendlier
community to invest in, one willing to work with
them instead of against.
They consider themselves more as neighbors than
investors, and local people are already at
work and hiring thanks to their decision to come
here.
Bonners Ferry Builders and the Wedel family
earned the contract to build the store from the
ground up, and numerous local subcontractors are
being afforded work at home ... including the
owners and operators of the many earth moving
machines already churning in the background to
transform eight acres of ground into an economic
engine.
The mayor of Bonners Ferry and the city council
may have taken a beating through the process,
but hardly a voice is complaining now.
"The City of Bonners Ferry welcomes the Super 1
Food store to our community," city manager
Steven Boorman said. We are excited about this
opportunity for a long-term relationship with
the McIntire family, who have been good citizens
of other Idaho communities for many years."
Already, with winter coming on, the McIntires
are buying local fuel and local products, and
the people they employ are looking for the best
places to grab a quick bite to eat or buy the
things they need to get through the day, putting
wages into local pockets, and Super 1 Foods has
yet to hire the new store's first employees, who
will have jobs to go to for years to come.
Our local workers are going to be working
through some of the worst months of the year,
but at least they don't have to go far from home
to do it.
And it's nothing new for the people of Boundary
County; they've been doing it for years and no
one is better able ... except during hunting
season! |
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