The opening of Chuck’s Produce & Street Market has been delayed, but store operators have started to interview hundreds of applicants to staff the $5 million venue in the Columbia Square retail center.
“We’re opening to the public the first week in October,” said Mike Livermore, store manager.
Design changes delayed the store’s transformation twice, he said. Store developers — an unnamed group of local investors — at first planned to open in April in the former Joe’s sporting goods store at 13215 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd. Owners then anticipated an August opening.
The store’s name has also undergone a change.
Chuck’s Produce & Street Market is a switch from its original name, Chuck’s Produce & Artisan Foods.
Livermore said he and other store managers would conduct interviews through Thursday with 300 to 400 job candidates culled from a deluge of more than 1,400 applications. He said the company is not accepting additional applications.
“We’re going to hire between 105 and 120 employees,” Livermore said.
The workers will staff Chuck’s 37,000-square-foot selling floor, carved out of Joe’s original 70,000-square-foot space. The remaining space will be reserved for store expansion or leased to another tenant, Livermore said.
“We are using that for storage as of today and have not yet leased out that space,” he said.
In-store departments will include:
o An artisan-style bakery that will produce fine pastries and breads.
o A coffee shop serving private-label and Portland-based K&F coffees.
o A dairy department featuring organic eggs, milk and yogurt.
o A deli with seats for 40 that will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees, including salads and brick-oven baked pizza.
o A floral department that offers some custom arrangements, plants and cut flowers.
o A gourmet ice cream shop with gelato and soft-serve yogurt.
o A produce department that will take up more than 25 percent of the store and carry locally grown selections when possible.
o A meat department stocked with meats produced in Washington and Oregon.
Livermore said Chuck’s grocery department would specialize in organic foods, including some same brands carried by organics food chain Wild Oats.
First link in chain
He said Chuck’s will also feature kitchen classroom space for regular cooking classes taught by store personnel and outside instructors.
“They will do food preservation demos and healthy recipes,” Livermore said.
He characterized the store’s interior and exterior design as “rustic” and “European,” featuring polished cement floors and exposed wooden ceiling beams held together with blackened metal brackets.
Store developers hope Chuck’s will become the first in a chain of similar stores that will capture market share among a growing population of health-conscious food shoppers.
Although Chuck’s Produce will be similar in some ways to popular specialty stores such as Trader Joe’s and Wild Oats, Livermore said Chuck’s will offer lower price points.
“The price is excessive in a lot of the market. We think we’ll be able to offer more,” he said.
Salem, Ore.-based Colson & Colson is general contractor for the building’s remodel.
