Charlie Bermant

charliebermant@gmail.com

Quimper Mercantile plans to expand this year in a move that may decrease its profits, but would benefit the business in the long run, according to material presented at an April 26 stockholders’ meeting.

“We need more space for storage and retail,” said company CEO Peter Quinn to approximately 100 people attending the meeting at the Northwest Maritime Center.

The store, located at 1121 Water St., in a space previously occupied by Swain’s Outdoor, is leasing an additional 3,900 square feet to augment its 15,700-square-foot space, which opened in October 2014.

The new space, which has been vacant since the mercantile’s opening, is to be used for storage and would add 1,200 square feet of retail area. The company plans to sublease the front portion of the space to another merchant, which could alleviate some or all of the $30,000 yearly rent.

According to financial reports presented at the meeting, the store claimed a $135,000 after-tax profit in 2016.

The first three months of 2017 have not been profitable, Quinn said, but those numbers reflect the slowest time of the year. The year’s projections estimate a profit of $99,961, but budgets “always show you exactly where you aren’t going to be,” he said.

While stock dividends are still a few years off, the mercantile has established a community share program, through which it donates a percentage of sales on a specific day to local nonprofits. The Quilcene School District benefited from the inaugural effort on April 30, while a percentage of profits on May 7 are to be channeled to the Chimacum School District.

Benefit days for the Brinnon and Port Townsend school districts are slated for the fall.

The percentage would be calculated later, and could range from 25 percent to 50 percent, Quinn said. He expects that the school districts would mobilize their supporters to shop on those particular day.

Quinn said that local stores face more competition from online sales, and that Quimper’s presence as an “anchor tenant,” one that draws customers to the region, is one of its most important attributes.

LOCAL BUSINESS

Quinn suggested recruiting a local merchant for the board, on which there is now a vacancy, in order to improve community relations.

“One way to stay honest with each other and improve communication would be to invite a Water Street merchant to join the board,” he said.

Quinn was apparently alluding to a March 8 Leader article in which local merchants criticized the mercantile for offering the same goods as other stores at a lower price. In the article, Sport Townsend owner Susan Jacob said she was forced to close her store due to competition from what she characterized as “the community-owned Walmart.”

Stockholder Ruth Gordon disagreed with this characterization, saying that competition from online sources was probably more of a factor in Sport Townsend’s closure. Stockholder Jackie Aase added that the mercantile “is doing a great job” of communicating with other merchants.

“We are not out to put anyone out of business,” Quinn said. “We never were. But as a community-owned company, we need to pay more attention to anything that is perceived as anti-competitive.”

Quinn said the article didn’t deserve front-page coverage, that it was “more of a letter to the editor.” Following its publication, several customers came into the store and voiced support, he said.

“People were speaking positively,” he said. “But to doesn’t mean we don’t have an obligation. It doesn’t mean that we won’t take it seriously.”