Country Aire Receives Business of the Year Award
Country Aire Natural Foods Market received the Business of the Year award at Washington Main Street's “Excellence on Main” award ceremonies. The award was given in conjunction with RevitalizeWA, Washington State's Preservation and Main Street Conference.
Sarah Hansen, Washington State Main Street coordinator, said of Country Aire owners John and Robyn Miletich:
“The Miletiches clearly see the importance of investing in the community and have focused on creating an inviting retail space while continuously increasing and expanding their offerings. Their vision and hard work has paid off; they've created 50 local jobs and a loyalty program boasting more than 4,500 members. Their success is an inspiration.”
Sarah Hansen, Washington State Main Street coordinator, said of Country Aire owners John and Robyn Miletich:
“The Miletiches clearly see the importance of investing in the community and have focused on creating an inviting retail space while continuously increasing and expanding their offerings. Their vision and hard work has paid off; they've created 50 local jobs and a loyalty program boasting more than 4,500 members. Their success is an inspiration.”
posted by Tom Harper at 4:22 PM
34 Comments:
Domestic heroin trafficking continues to serve as a US Dept. of Homeland Security report card-
Hum, was in there once but being only two blocks from a Safeway that gives me gas discounts I do most of that kind of shopping there.
Being a guy Swain's gets a lot of my business.
BBC, same way, I live so close to Safeway now I can't help it. Decent store.
But Country Aire, the owners, the managers, the front line workers, the stockpeople, they all deserve this. CONGRATS!!! And Max! Didn't he used to work there? I'm going to miss Max, please don't go Max!
Seriously though,it's an amazing, amazing store. For the area, the selection is mindboggling. The staff..couldn't be nicer, more knowlegable, or helpful. Prices, very competetive. And if we are talking about the density of nutrients, it's actually a BETTER value, but who eats for nourishment these days? I do. One of my neighbors does. Sick people. They often resort to quality food and nutrition. Babies...some feel the need to provide high quality food to growing babies. The list goes on and on. The guy who mows my yard. The guy who catches my fish. Max. Gardeners. Those with gardens sometimes get hooked on better quality food. And having a store like this, that is so nice and so big, will showcase local products and will only bring good things to the community. The other stores around here, do a good job too, I think. People around here remember their farming roots and expect more, I think. For instance, Albertson's sells Nash's produce, and that is neat. But for a community our size, to have a store like Country Aire, we are very lucky. But it sucks here. Lets say you live by WalMart, and you need a fresh papaya. What do you do? You call every store in town, and hope you get someone on the line that knows what a papaya looks like, and gives you an honest answer, IF they have them (hint, Alb. almost always has nice ones). Ten years ago this caused me great grief here, finding "specific" things. So, I'm happy....with the food scene here. Thank you Country Aire. And Max.
I have heard some rumors that Country Aire is not in the best shape financially after buying and remodeling that building. I hope they can survive long enough to get through any problems they're having.
A lot of the packaged products are ridiculous over-priced, over-packaged, over-processed junk to sell to yuppies who want to feel like they're saving the planet when they buy it.
BUT, Country Aire has an incredible selection of cheap herbs, spices and loose leaf teas. The bulk bins are also pretty good with some stuff being an incredible deal over a packaged version at the other grocery stores.
The sandwiches and wraps in the deli are also really good for the price.
Wow, the PDN buried that story fast online. Didn't even notice it yesterday - assholes. Thanks for posting it Tom.
"A lot of the packaged products are ridiculous over-priced, over-packaged, over-processed junk to sell to yuppies who want to feel like they're saving the planet when they buy it."
Ummm..you are so full of shit. First off, there aren't that many brie eating toads around here looking for crunchy salty things. (except the ladies who chase after BBC and they don't eat brie so nevermind). Second, there isn't that much there of that type of food there anyway. Corn chips per square feet compared to Safeway? Come on. It's spread out, in areas, in the middle, because the store has lots of room to grow. You are fucking moron. The amount of things they have, like that, is ridiculously low.
And yeah, to me, much of that stuff is not food, but it's so ridiculously underprocessed and underpackaged, compared to the average snack food, your ignorance makes me choke on my granola. And half of that is hiking bars? And fruit leather? WTF is wrong with you? People like you, fucking morons, pretending to be partially sympathetic to something, you make me want to go out and hug someone, and make them stop doing heroin or something. And I dunno, corn chips made from non-gmo corn, in a 100% post consumer recycled bag? Dollar extra too much for you? Your proctologist might get that dollar eventually....so "those" people might as well get some flavor out of a chip too...sheesh.
And maybe ten percent of that space is chocolate? Have you ever bothered to research free trade things like that? Or tasted it? Personally, I like knowing there are less rat hairs in it, being mostly "boutique" chocolate, than the average choc. bar. You could always melt one down, mix it with some of that cheap sugar over in the bins...would still taste better than anything mass produced from Pennsylvania.
Their finances - I'm sure it cost a ton. Fucking duh. Banks love to finance growing businesses - and help "prop up" business districts..sometimes. That's how things are. It's good for business, and some businesses and organizations in this town actually SUPPORT other businesses. The business is worth more than you, and everyone ever related to you, ever earned combined. Get over it.
In a few years, when they are in the black, when banks are itching to loan them more money, lots more money - I hope they open another one near WalMart, every teabagger and tinfoil hat wearer (Rand Paul...liquor stores...drones...Rand Paul...liquor stores...drones...Rand Paul...liquor stores...drones) in town will question the decision, and you will complain about it and I can tell you what a fucking cynical moron you are. Cheap food in the bins...you idiot.
As a person with inside knowledge, I can tell you that the rumours regarding the financial instabily of Country Aire are entirely true.
Their situation is perilous and if they don't right the sinking ship this summer they will close in the fall. Have you noticed the gaps on the shelves, especially in the supplement and herb departments? vendors of these products have cut the store off until the unpaid bills are paid.
And who can afford their obviously jacked-up prices?
Maybe they'll find a sucker to buy the place, but don't count on it!
Hey, I haven't dated any women here for some time, I'm a goddamn bum and the available women here want wealthy men so they can help him spend his money.
@ Anon 3:25
Wow. Did I strike a nerve? You seem really upset about something. Maybe you should have some more granola and hug a tree. I like Country Aire. Relax.
SomeBODY obviously needs some "Sleepy Time" tea!
A bit wound up in the middle of the night are we?
Was listening to a radio program a couple days ago where the topic of the posting of nasty and insulting comments on the internet was discussed. The folks that study these things said people who feel powerless in their lives are the ones most often to engage in trashing people they don't know, on-line.
hmmm.
BBC - Well, those women aren't really dating the men, they are dating the money. Keep dreaming. I think you are sexy.
No, no nervous tension here. I enjoy Tom's blog. To me, it seems like one or two unknown teabaggers in town post here with the hopes that when their post is read, the normal, average, progressive person, would just roll their eyes and say what a waste of time, and never come back to this blog.
Which would be a shame, because it's better than the PDN "forums". One of those small things that makes this town easier to live in, and might even spark something, create a thought, make a person take one important action one day, and make PA a lot better.
People like you, are becoming irrelveant quickly. You need to change, or the new world coming, will shock you and your heart will give out. And we don't that.
*****HUGS*******
I don't need to change a damn thing at my age, just ignore some things that have little effect on me anyway.
And enjoy my camping and boating and other interests, fixing the future is for the youth to deal with, or not.
Kumbaya, kumbaya!
Hey, did Max file for re-election this afternoon or not?
I want a three-way race between Max, Peter Ripley and the dude who was a plumber!
BREAKING NEWS HOMIES
Scumbag downtown burgler was caught.
No, he didn't file. KONP was on it at 5:02. Bummer. Thanks Max, for giving the "fiscally conservative" teabaggers a run for their money and helping illuminate what hypocrites they are and how they have been purposely holding this town back...(think Mitch McConnell). I'm sure you inspired many around here. Perhaps the greatest inspiration you have provided to some here is to follow your exit, but for a few, I'm sure you made quite the difference. Like you would even read this. That's one of the most enjoyable things about this blog, is poking fun at the Max haters. I'm voting for the plumber. That Peter guy seems like a tool. Watching him waffle just on the PDN forums is quite funny sometimes. Watch him win. I'm a commie girl at heart, but the plumber guy has my vote.
Alex - drones....Rand Paul....liquor stores....drones....Rand Paul....liquor stores....
*****HUGS*******
(cont.)......PA teabaggers are more than happy to spend public money if it lines their own pockets, is a waste, pollutes a river, spoils a coast, kills people, makes people distrust government more, hurts the environment, hurts eco-toursim prospects, or pollutes or covers up a Native site.
I was kinda hoping for "Sunny Farms West" with all the extra room at Country Aire's new location. Still going to Sequim for meat and produce, so I usually do most of my food shopping there, and buy packaged crap wherever its cheapest. Country Aire is good for some stuff, but we really need a "clean" grocery store in PA. Most of the shit at Safeway, Albertson's etc. isn't really fit to eat.
Max was young and inexperienced when he came to PA.
Not so much now!
Supurb job, Max. Every second they spent worrying about you was a second they lost thinking about how to fuck up Port Angeles.
Lindsey Lohan: CALL ME
Grandma: I'll bring eggs over tomorrow
https://www.facebook.com/lee.whetham
Me gusta his "other" Be sure to click "more".
People like this, stepping up, unashamed progressive LIBERALS that are PISSED at Republicans and what they have done, Ed Shultz on MSNBC was talking about recently.
How this next cycle hopefully certain types will step up and fill the void Republicans have created for themselves by trashing government workers, do-gooders, teachers, Hispanics, gay people, women who use birth control, scientists, women who have been raped that have abortions, etc., etc. for so long.
The hope expressed was that people with down in the trenches experience, in their fifties, willing to give up a half a million, or a few million bucks in their career, might go into public service in their 50s instead of waiting until they retire, which is what we usually get around here.
Exciting and down right shocking to see it happen here.
He's got that Mike McGinn thing going on too, albeit Lee seems much more "Authentic Northwest"...snark.
I still think we need young self aware liberals in government, but this will be nice, with his long work record, union history, and take no shit attitude.
Although I liked Max, I was worried if he ran again Ripley might get in. So I feel so much better. I was so saddened this morning, or yesterday morning, reading about the heroin death here, and the paper and the cop press releases etc. give us the local excuses...supply...doctors holdling back...Mexicans...Canadians...weak borders....no mention of why people self medicate, lack of jobs, lack of purpose, lack of rehab funds,lack of LOVE.
Our paper is embarrasing. But it's very very depressing, sad, and heartbreaking to see such a large chunk of our population so willing to cut off their noses to spite thier faces.
The fact that they were pushing Ripley as a "publisher"...I canceled my subscription. Thirty years. If it's no longer a newspaper, why bother?
Yes, I just made that up, "WPA, But Obama's Way!!!". You can use it, I give you permission. Ha.
WTF -
I find Sunny Farms beef not so great. You should look into it, look into what they actually do to it, to make it so pretty and red, and consider buying 100% grass fed beef in Sequim, directly from the farmer. It's fun, cheap, close, and fun for the kids too!
There is a GIGANTIC difference between grass fed beef, and "beef from pastured cows". Google is your friend!
The creamery in Sequim also sells beef. It's really good too.
And the SF chicken.....oh, please. Draper Valley is great, it's about as close to free range as you can get, but the ones SF sells are giant and tough. Birds don't have big livers - big birds are dangerous to eat! Hello! Plus, their skin sort of acts like a liver, so old birds...and the parts of them that touch the skin...nasty. Plus, the fat on a chicken absorbs toxins a bit too rapidly for me - and any meat touching that on a giant chicken, I'd remove. I wouldn't feed my pigs chickens over six months old.
If I ask for a small breast, I get the biggest one. Fine, asshole, I'll save the gas and just shop in PA from now on. Seriously. I know there was a time, when a big chicken meant a good ol' pot of chicken soup...but times have changed. That was sort of out of desperation, gramma cooking up her ol' chicken, that quit layin'. Just sayin'.
QFC sells Draper Valley, and it's very reasonable. Albertsons does sometimes. My only complaint about Country Aire is that their chicken is too expensive. Hey, time for a boycott!!!
And talk about aisles and aisles and aisles of yuppy junk food...at Sunny Farms.
I think Sunny Farms is very nice. But Country Aire is much nicer, I think, for what it is, and what it will be. PA is bigger than Sequim but Country Aire serves a much smaller market, I'd imagine, plus the location. Being there is an investment in our downtown, that can not be measured with money. At least their money. Think about all the traffic SF gets. But also think ANY grocery store, with that much stuff there, no matter the quality of what they sold, would have a ton of traffic. That is a sweet spot and they are lucky. Sequim would be doomed if that store ever changed too much or moved. I'd imagine eventually the teabaggers in the county will force them to move.
You have to realize CA is pretty much the same store, in a much larger space. They have a great deal of space to grow into, and they have grown quite nicely since they moved and it's very exciting, I think.
If someone tried to duplicate Sunny Farms in PA, out of thin air, that would be really really expensive. And a giant gamble. People don't do that. It took Sunny Farms DECADES to grow to be what it is, including the nursery biz, plus their farm biz. They produce a lot of their food. So, to expect, poof, Sunny Farms West...sorry, WTF.
Remember, CA moved with pretty much the same stock...maybe even LESS, fixing that place up, hiring bookoos of new workers, training them, in teabagger land in these times was a giant feat - and they will grow slowly...as all viable businesses do.
So, shut the fuck up, what the fuck! :)
1:58 am, you've got it right.
PDN is SUCH an embarrassment. I cancelled my subscription a number of years ago.
And Peter Ripley? I can't imagine anyone taking him seriously.
We are in really serious times, and so few are willing to step up to the need and challenge of working to help. The "machine politics" of the mainstream parties are only interested in themselves, in soliciting "donations", in creating non-issues to use to solicit money, and doing virtually nothing to address real problems.
Clallam County? No forward thinking here. More rhetoric about creating "jobs" in industries that have no actual future. Great.
Sad about Max. No, he was not perfect like you and I, but he sure meant well and tried. Tried a lot more than 99.99% of Port Angeles residents. For that he is to be ridiculed, right?
I enjoyed the clam patties the Cornerhouse served up on Friday.
Hey Chicken Hawk, I think the demographics of the area have to be factored in.
A lot of older folks shop at Sunny Farms. Many become more health aware as they get older, and things start affecting them. In contrast, Port Angeles clearly still is dominated by the "rape, plunder and pillage" mindset. No limits to what we can strip from the natural environment, any attempts to put limits on polluting and environmentally damaging activities are to be opposed vehemently, and being concerned about "eating healthy" is for wimpy, stupid eco-nuts.
I think Country Aire is to be commended for taking such a big gamble on Port Angeles evolving into a more supportive community.
Look at the current candidates for Port Angeles City Council, and tell me you see any real evidence of a shift from the way things are.
Yo Chicken Hawk : Yeaaaah..Ok, , so I need to shut the fuck up because I expressed a preference in grocery stores different from your own …Maybe you can explain sometime how your shit differs significantly from the typical tea bag toad... My point, - which in your haste to be the smartest kid on the page, you apparently missed. - is that Chain stores don’t get it and CA isn’t quite grocery enough. Sue me. PS ; if you ordered your chicken breast at Sunny Farms with that snide, snotty attitude, I would have given you the biggest one too. After I spit on it.
So - it looks like the 2014 PA city council will be cherie, sissi, brad, lee, patrick, dan & dan. Cutler will be gone, having absconded with his thousands of dollars of cash-out payments; Teresa Pierce will continue to run things in the city managers office; the city attorney will continue to serve as the in-house conduit for outside legal advice, and all will be at peace at city hall without Max around to ask probing questions or to demand public accountability.
Country Aire will be a breath of fresh aire compared to the staleness emanating from the halls of local government in 2014.
Wow, ABC might do a story on neighbor issues, tractors, cops in PA.
Let's all hold hands and pray.
"Help, my neighbor says he's going to destroy my house!"
"Sounds like a property/civil issue to me, can't help ya."
This is such a disturbing story. One of several this week here. Lots of WTF, CYA, AWOL and WMW.
And how does PA react, according to the PDN"?
"People taking pictures and yelling at you — it’s been hard."
Gee, wonder if that's a little out of context? Sure, the story has some bright spots, but for that blurb, as a stand alone paragraph, at the top?
Turns out the Chinese video was accurate too! Big ol' middle finger to you PDN! Pretty funny. No need for them much longer, ROTFL.......
I've seen those vids before too, and they are getting better. If local reporters, aren't going to go out and report, or if it takes them so long, wtf not. People want to know shit! And darn it, we'll drive by your house and yell at you, if something bad happens to you, and good reporting hasn't been done!
That really was an exceptionally good illustration of our culture of violence, an exceedingly intimate violent act, and perhaps, hopefully not, a new type of horrible crime, the bulldozer incident. As someone from Belarus recently commented about it, paraphrazing, "America is a nation of violent gun toting loonies." Ouch! I used to hunt and own guns. Now that I don't anymore, I don't feel the need to lock my doors. Think about it. Liberate yourself from the fear! Not going to be easy making that change here, figuring a way to keep the foxes out of the hen house, but we are going to have to figure our way out of the dilemma.
CA sells Draper Valley chicken, the ground beef comes from Sysco, some meat comes from Clark Farms, the fish is all from Key City Fish and High Tide, bacon, sausage and other things come from other non-local sources. All the meat is parted out and repackaged for sale. Not much different than QFC, Safeway or Albertsons.
CA is bleeding money at an alarming rate, drastically cutting back staff and losing regular customers left and right. Poor planning, lack of management and leadership, indifference to customers all add up to a failing business.
Where are all the old staff from the little store? I heard most, if not all, of them either got fired or quit once the new place opened. The new staff are nice enough but most of them don't know what's going on and they seem to come and go really quickly. And they look really nervous, like they're a day away from getting fired.
Well, good luck to them. I'd hate to see another huge empty downtown, but like many other people I gave up on them after awhile and now shop at Sunny Farms.
"America is a nation of violent gun toting loonies."
I do not agree with that statement, I may well be loonie but I'm pretty peaceful and have never used one of my guns against someone else. I'm not discounting that I may have to someday though.
"America is a nation of violent gun toting loonies."
Well, consider the following.
Almost 100,000 people are either killed or injured by guns in America, EVERY year!
30 some odd thousand are killed in accidents, suicides and murder, every year. And another 70 odd thousand are injured in accidents, crimes, and such.
Around 50 thousand Americans died in Vietnam. Americans kill more of each other than in all the years of the Vietnam war, every two years.
If this were a car, baby crib, or any other consumer item, it would have been recalled and banned long ago.
We banned cigarette smoking in clasrooms, doctors' offices. movie theatres and every other public place because people were getting sick and dying from exposure to other peoples' smoke.
Hello?!?!
"Almost 100,000 people are either killed or injured by guns in America, EVERY year!"
That helps us from becoming over populated, guess that's something to be thankful for.
"If this were a car... it would have been recalled and banned long ago."
30,000 deaths per year by guns? Cars have killed more people per year since 1945. In 2011 there were 32,367 deaths. The most recent peak was in 2002 with 43,005 deaths. (There's a list on Wikipedia.)
70,000 injuries per year by guns? There were an estimated 2.9 million automobile-related injuries in 2005 (I wish that was broken down by degree of injury, I suspect most of these are not serious). Again, cars are much more dangerous than guns.
Now I don't see anyone trying to ban cars--or do make any safety adjustment to our roads--as fervently as they are guns. Why is that?
Actually, cars are recalled by the millions to address problems, to make them safer, every year.
Millions are spent by car companies in research and development to redesign them to make them safer to operate. Crush zones, air bags, plastic fuel tanks, fuel shut-off solinoids, seatbelts etc.
And, cars have to be registered. In many states, they have to be inspected regularily to ensure their safe operation, or they will not be allowed to be registered for use.
You have to be licensed by the state to operate a car. And insured to cover the expenses of possible accidents/damages.
The State and local governments patrol the streets every hour of every day, specifically monitoring how people are operating cars, and are empowered to stop anyone they think is driving improperly. They have the ability to sieze cars on the spot, and the judicial system has the power to take a persons ability to drive a car away, for life.
And, you might have noticed the many millions being spent to widen highway 101 between Sequim and Port Angeles, or know of the millions to be spent to build an overpass at Deer Park rd in Port Angeles soon? Across the nation, billions are spent each year to make roads safer to travel on.
Billions more are spent on "mass transit", to get people to stop using their cars.
Increasingly, city planning is moving towards creating car-free areas. Building communities not reliant upon cars.
I remember when people said that there was no proof cigarettes caused cancer, too.
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