The new owner of the two Swanson’s Foods grocery stores on Grays Harbor says he is planning improvements.
Robert Jewett, the principal behind TH28 Holdings Inc., of Tacoma and Spokane, which recently purchased Swanson’s was in the community last week and spoke to The Daily World. “I bought the business as an investment,” Jewett said about the two stores, one on Boone Street in South Aberdeen and the other on Simpson Avenue in Hoquiam. Initial efforts will be simple and quick updates so the stores appear more attractive to shoppers with new paint and a less cluttered floor plan.
Point-of-sale improvements and some technical upgrades are also slated fairly quickly for the stores. And the Hoquiam store’s distinctive riverfront mural will remain.
Swanson’s will be using Supervalu Inc., as a supplier and marketing resource. The grocery supplier will help with displays, advertising, product selection and “putting things in the proper places,” said Tom Sequin, Jr., stores manager and a longtime presence in the business. He will be responsible for day-to-day management.
Sequin said the inquiries about who purchased the store and what the plans are have been coming virtually non-stop since the sale was announced in a letter to employees dated Sept. 30.
Mark Swanson was the third-generation operator of the stores and no one else in the family wanted to take on the responsibility of the business. Selling the business allowed him to retire.
The first Swanson’s store opened in Hoquiam in 1905 and the grocery business was owned by the family until the recent sale to Jewett, who is listed by the Secretary of State’s office as the holding corporation’s president, secretary and treasurer with a contact address in Mississaguga, Ont., Canada. The registered agent address is in Spokane. Tacoma is listed online as another business location of the corporation.
“It’s a relief we’re seeing that we have a future,” Sequin said. “We’re doing good and hope to do a lot better.”
Amenities in the stores are being eyed for future improvements. These could be simple improvements to existing facilities or the addition of new ones. The stores don’t fully duplicate customer offerings now but that might be something to work toward later, Sequin and Jewett said.
“We’re still making decisions about what to do,” Sequin explained.
Swanson assured employees, including management, that they would have jobs for years to come when he officially announced his retirement at the end of September in a letter to employees.
Swanson’s employees have a work contract that extends to March 2020, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local No. 367 based in Tacoma.
The back of the Swanson’s Foods location in Hoquiam. The mural will be left intact as initial improvements to the Hoquiam and the South Aberdeen store are completed. (The Daily World file photo)
