Safeway will close during remodel

Company got design concessions from city by saying it could stay open

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

Despite claims that it intended to keep its Whitefish store open during remodeling, Safeway Inc. has announced it will close for eight months.

"With a major remodel underway, company officials determined it was in the best interest and safety of their employees and customers to close for approximately eight months beginning 6 p.m. Labor Day (Sept. 1) until May 2009," the company said in its press release.

Remodeling plans call for combining the footprint of the existing store with that of the former Ben Franklin store. The $17.1 million remodel will result in an "upscale Lifestyle marketplace spanning 53,845 square feet and featuring specialty departments throughout the store," the company's press release said. Among the new departments listed in the press release is a Starbucks.

Safeway's pharmacy department will continue to serve customers throughout the temporary closure by operating from a trailer across 13th Street, north of the existing store.

Laid-off employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits and will be rewarded by the company for returning to work when the remodeling is completed, Safeway said. Store management and the company's Human Resources Department will assist employees with the transition and how to search for a temporary job, Safeway said.

"Our employees are our number one asset," said Cherie Myers, Safeway's director of public and government affairs. "While we will only close our doors as a last resort, we felt we had no other option in Whitefish to ensure the overall safety of both our employees and customers."

Fifty-seven employees at the store will be affected by the layoff.

Safeway spokesmen told city officials several times last year that they needed to relocate its loading facilities from the south side of the building to the north in order to keep the store running during the renovation.

On April 19 last year, Safeway architect Chuck Horgan said Safeway hoped to keep the store open during the remodel, meaning the 15th Street loading dock could be used temporarily while a new one is built on the north side of the building.

The city's Architectural Review Committee initially opposed that plan, saying the corner of 13th Street and Baker Avenue, kitty-corner from The Wave, needed to be more pedestrian-friendly, not a truck-unloading facility.

City planners agreed, adding traffic concerns in calling in their staff report for leaving the unloading facility on the south side. But the planning board, citing utility issues and the need to keep the store open during remodeling, recommended removing that condition.

With a new set of "box store" regulations in place for buildings exceeding 15,000 square feet, the Whitefish City Council became actively involved in the design-approval process. Safeway continued to lobby for relocating the unloading dock.

"We can't afford to close the store," Parker told the city council on June 4 last year, describing how phased-construction would keep 50 employees working.

The council's active role in the design process quickly became contentious. More than 50 people showed up to support Safeway at the council's June 18 meeting last year, and store manager Randy Bebee presented a petition with more than 1,500 signatures in support of Safeway's proposal. The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce also weighed in with support for Safeway.

Once again, Safeway officials told the council it needed to relocate the unloading dock to the north side in order to keep the store open during remodeling. In the end, the city council approved the new location.