Staff of 57 will be out of work during $17 million project

The Whitefish Safeway will close Sept. 1 for eight months and furlough its work force while the grocery store is rebuilt and expanded.

When it reopens in May 2009, the new 53,845-square-foot store will have several specialty departments, including an expanded organic-food section, a hearth-oven bakery and a Starbucks coffee kiosk.

Safeway initially had intended to keep the Whitefish store open during the construction, but issued a press release Thursday announcing the temporary closure, saying it was in the best interest and safety of employees and customers to close at 6 p.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 1.

The pharmacy department will remain open, stationed in a trailer across 13th Street, north of the existing store.

"Our customers in Whitefish have invested in us, and this expansion is long overdue," Safeway spokeswoman Cherie Myers said.

The cost of the store upgrade has increased to $17.1 million, up $5 million from Safeway's $12 million estimate a year ago.

"The price of everything has gone up," Myers said.

The new store - called an upscale lifestyle marketplace by Safeway - will be more than 22,000 square feet larger than the existing store. Among the many offerings will be a specialty roasted nut bar and a floral kiosk.

During the temporary closure, Safeway's 57 Whitefish employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits and are assured their jobs back when the doors re-open.

"Our employees are our No. 1 asset," Myers said in a prepared statement. "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. All staff and management affected by the closure will be welcomed with open arms to return."

In the meantime, representatives from the company's human resources department, along with store management, will assist employees with the transition and how to search for temporary jobs.

Fifty more employees will be added to the existing work force when the revamped store reopens, Myers said.

Safeway met with scrutiny from both the Whitefish City Council and the city's architectural review committee as it sought approval of the project. It was the first commercial building subjected to the city's box-store law that requires a permit for stores bigger than 15,000 square feet.

The council's indecision over design elements and the location of a loading dock unleashed an outpouring of community support for the grocery store, a mainstay in Whitefish for more than 60 years.

The corporation agreed to make back and side walls more architecturally pleasing to finally win approval of a conditional-use permit. But city approval came too late to get started on construction last year.

Safeway Inc. is one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,743 stores in the United States and Western Canada and had annual sales of $42 billion in 2007.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com