LaCrosse Market to open in remodeled digs

The new year is ringing in a new grocery store in LaCrosse.

LaCrosse Market Inc. proprietor Wendy Holliday said the store is all but ready for business and was supervising the installation of a Coca-Cola machine on the morning of Dec. 27. She said she intends to have the store open Monday, Jan. 7, at 8 a.m.

LaCrosse Community Pride, a group of local folks who work on LaCrosse’s economic development to draw more businesses to the small town, is instrumental in bringing the grocery store back to life. The Western Whitman County town hasn’t had a supermarket since Jerry Chastain closed the LaCrosse Market in 2009.

Lois Startin, Pride member, said the community center and library portion of the building won’t be open yet because more work needs to be done.

Holliday said she has been out of work for almost a year. She worked for the Grange, beginning in accounts receivable, then worked her way up to manager. When the Grange shops merged, she said she was laid off. Although she’ has never managed a grocery store before, she said her knowledge in the hardware section of the Grange gives her the right experience.

“It’s just a different kind of retail,” she said. “I’m excited to be busy again.”

When the LaCrosse Market closed its doors in February 2009, it left the small town without a grocer for the first time in memory. Without an in-town market, residents of LaCrosse had to rely on deliveries from Dusty or out-of-town trips to get groceries.

The building was purchased by Judy Harder and Alex McGregor in 2010 and deeded to the Community Pride organization.

Crews worked inside the 1915-vintage building remodeling the old grocery store into a new marketplace.

The wiring, refrigeration and the ceiling were replaced in the building last fall.

Holliday said she has been busy going over the inventory, installing a cash register and credit card machine and getting all the vendors together.

Holliday’s mother, Bonnie, will help out in the store once in a while.

Holliday also said she has missed the social aspect of working with the public.

“I’m looking forward to seeing people again and visiting with them,” she said. “That was the hardest part of being out of work was not seeing people.”

Holliday said the store will offer basic grocery items, and customers also can sit in the common area while they enjoy a cup of coffee. Eventually the store will sell lottery tickets and may offer espresso drinks some time in the future, if that doesn’t compete with the cafe, she said.

“I’m always looking for new ideas,” she said.

The market will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Tedd Nealey, Pride board member, said that grants, donations and volunteers helped with the project.

“We have a ways to go,” he said. “We still have some fundraising left to do to fully complete the project.”

The medical clinic portion will have a chiropractor and a local massage therpist available once a week. The Pride board also is considering a nurse practitioner or medical assistant of some sort.

“We’re still actively accepting contributions to help finish the project,” Nealey said. All donations are tax deductible.

Donations can be made by contacting members of the group or by mailing information to P.O. Box 321, LaCrosse, WA 99142.