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POSTED: Friday, May. 08, 2009

After long wait, Birch Bay grocery store to open next week

Birch Bay area residents patiently waiting for their new grocery store may be intrigued by the new features they will find next week.

After years of false starts by other companies and an extensive remodel, The Market at Birch Bay will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 13. For many local residents, it means the end of trips to Blaine or Ferndale - the nearest stores - for groceries.

Along with the typical grocery products, the 32,000-square-foot store in Birch Bay Square will have food services not found in the company's other Whatcom County stores. The Da Vinci's Classic Subs section will serve not only made-to-order sandwiches and cheese steaks, but customers can choose from among 75 items at a salad bar, with their selections tossed to order.

Other features include a bulk frozen seafood section where shoppers can pick out items such as coconut-crusted shrimp; a cheese kiosk that will have freshly made mozzarella on the weekends and an artisan bread bar.

Kevin Weatherill, CEO of The Markets LLC, said his goal with the new store is to bring in products and services the community wanted in a grocery store. That includes his mom, who lives in the area.

"She's been bugging me for years about getting a store in Birch Bay," Weatherill said with a chuckle. "Actually, we've been hearing quite a bit from the community, and we're glad we'll be finally able to bring it to them."

The Markets took over the task of putting in a grocery store at the retail center last June after plans by other companies didn't bear fruit. Once the long-term lease was signed, the company found it lots of remodeling work to finish the conversion from what was originally part of the mall before it was separated from the main center. This included removing what was to be a drive-through area and adding about 7,000 square feet of space for all of the cooling equipment needed to operate the store, as well as adding a loading area. The retail area the shoppers will see is about 25,000 square feet.

"There is nothing square about this building, which created some design challenges," said Weatherill, noting the front of the building is slightly narrower than the back of the store.

The plan is to have the Birch Bay store be a blueprint for the company's other stores, which include Cost Cutter and Food Pavilion.

"We want to make sure these new elements perform to our expectations before we start on remodeling the other stores," Weatherill said. "To be honest, the economy will have a role at the pace we get the other stores done."

Other features at the Birch Bay store:

• A bakery, olive bar, hot wing bar and a fresh meat and seafood section.

• A large wine section in the south part of the store, including a walk-in fridge where customers can get chilled bottles. For those more interested in beer, there's a beer cave on the west side.

• A section called Gusto d'Italia, providing a wide variety of Italian food.

"Everyone cooks Italian food at home, so we try to address it by having it in one place. That way customers don't have to go hunting for olive oil in one part of the store and pasta somewhere else," said Sue Cole, public affairs director at The Markets.

• Produce and meat departments that have handler-certified organic food, approved by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

• Four self-checkout counters to go along with three regular registers.

• Along with big windows to bring in natural light, there's a sit-down area with a fireplace near the deli.

After opening day, the store will be open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.