Bi-Mart
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| Type | discount membership store |
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| Founded | 1955 Yakima, Washington |
| Headquarters | Eugene, Oregon |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | clothing, footwear, housewares, sporting goods, hardware, toys electronics, foods, pharmacy, beer, seasonal goods |
| Website | http://www.bimart.com/ |
Bi-Mart is an employee-owned chain of retailers located in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho in the United States.[1] The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. The company is currently one of the last two remaining subsidiaries of the defunct Pay 'n Save. There are currently 72 store locations.[2] Bi-Mart's first store opened in Yakima, Washington in 1955 and did not open its second store until 1962. In 1976, it was bought by Pay 'n Save, and beginning in 1984, Bi-Mart's corporate parent was bought by Thrifty Corporation, which itself was merged into the former Kmart subsidiary PayLess Drug, culminating with the 1996 purchase by Rite Aid.
In 1997, Bi-Mart's management and a Portland-based venture capital firm bought the company; they sold it to its employees March 1, 2004 for $94 million, which included $12.5 million contributed from their 401(k) plan.
In October 2003, Bi-Mart announced it was expanding eastward, opening stores in Montana and Idaho. Eight stores were planned with the first store in Havre, Montana. The second store opened three years later in Weiser, Idaho.
As of December 2004, the company projects sales for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2005 of $650 million, compared with $621 million for the previous year.
In 2006, Bi-Mart exited the Montana market due to poor sales.
Like Costco and Sam's Club, Bi-Mart stores are membership stores; unlike those chains, its members-only policy started as a workaround to fair trade laws established in the United States in the 1930s by laws such as the Miller-Tydings Act and those related to suggested retail prices.[3]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Smaller and steady win the race, a December 2004 article from The Oregonian
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