Rosauers expansion promises more natural foods, take-out options

View of Rosauers expansion from the southwest, toward area where can and bottle recycling will be situated.

The Hood River Rosauers store must’ve been eating its own inventory, because it just keeps on growing. Opened back in 1969 at 30,000 square feet, the Heights destination is in the middle of an expansion that should take it to just over 50,000 square feet of floor space.

On a recent walking tour, assistant manager Doug Bohn spoke of several new features. The southerly expansion will create room for a bigger Huckleberry’s natural food section, including 48 feet of freezer space — going from 15 doors to 28 doors — and 60 feet more of refrigerator space.

Bohn says Huckleberry’s will also expand its bulk food options.

With such a significant expansion of the natural foods area, I asked company chief executive and president Jeff Philipps if Rosauers has given any thought to spinning off the Huckleberries section into a stand-alone store. The company has one stand-alone Huckleberry’s now, in Spokane.

“We just have the one freestanding store in Spokane, but we’re looking at ways to expand that format in other areas,” he said. “We need larger population density to support that.”

When studying the market area for a store, Rosauers looks inside a radius of 30-40 miles, which would include The Dalles as well as the communities of Binge, White Salmon, Cascade Locks and Stevenson.

The “new” meat department will lose the freezer cases north of the fresh counter. Those cases can be used as refrigerated space, and will be moved south for other product.

New freezer and refrigerator space at the back of the store will support the bakery and deli departments. Driven by customer demand for quick, take-out foods, Rosauers will expand the deli to offer a large olive bar, soups, cooked and take-out pizza, and cases to keep cooked chicken and other deli foods hot.

Foundation work shows where southern wall of expanded Rosauers store will be located, giving more interior space for refrigerated foods.

The beer and wine section will expand as well, to include more local products. Bottle recycling will move to the southwest corner of the store. A new sidewalk provides food access along the south side for residents living to the east of the store, so they don’t have to drive for a carton of milk and some corn flakes.

Philipps says the project is costing about $2.4 million, and the company is trying to hire as many local contractors as it can.

That’s just one aspect of its sustainability thinking. There’s another major addition under consideration. The Buzzer is excited to share that news with you, but told Philipps we would wait until the company firms up plans, probably within a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

Maybe the best news for those of us who like to chat with our checkers, the company is not — I repeat, NOT — thinking about installing self-checkout lanes, like Safeway has done.

“We value the customer experience, and want to interact with the customer to make sure they’ve had a pleasant experience,” Philipps says. “And the only way to get that is one-to-one.

“At a certain point in time, you have to focus on who you are and what you stand for.”

Bravo.

Snap Fitness … bursting at the seams

In case you’re not one of approximately 300 people who have signed up at the new Snap Fitness, you’ll have company when you do. My wife and I just signed up — they offer a nice joint package for a couple for $49.95 a month, so that’s $25 per person. A single is $34.95, and $59.95 covers a family of three (with $10 more for each additional person).

It’s a nice facility. Staffed from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it provides card-lock access to members at any other hour of the day. So, do you want to work off that extra pitcher of beer you know you shouldn’t have ordered at 1:30 a.m.? Head on over to Snap Fitness. On two feet (not driving, puh-leeze). On second thought, just go home. But you get the idea.

On my first day in, I saw several other refugees from Big Gym. I’ve been a customer there for several years, but the indifference of management (or maybe we should say “mismanagement”) finally got to me. They have a nice facility for weight training and cardio, but they offer little beyond that. As a certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise, I just cringed every time I’d see some newbie plunk down their money, come through the door and wander into an alien territory. Before long, people would be mirroring all the bad habits that others had learned before them.

A gym, at the very least, should show new customers how to use every piece of equipment. It’s basic safety, and it will help the customer achieve their objectives. Snap Fitness at least offered and I declined. Plus, the price is right. And one last thing — they don’t play that insanely torturous scrap metal music that had everyone at Big Gym wearing ear buds. Hell-o, is anyone paying attention?

Snap Fitness’s popularity may be its … upfall? The current space in the back of the Hood River Plaza mall is a bit tight. They may be looking at new digs before long. A sure sign of success. Stay tuned. Call 541-386-1267.

Joint