It's official; Super 1 breaks ground |
| November 16, 2011 |
|
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! |