Garden Valley Market Opens Its Doors !

It can't be helped--residents are now calling the new Garden Valley Market "The New Merc" and woe to them that try to do anything about that !





Meanwhile, the new Garden Valley Market opened its doors for business, today, Tuesday, July 19, with what the owners call a "soft opening".

It wasn't a grand party or an advertised celebration,  according to owners, Gerold Dennett and Greg Simione. They just "opened for business and will begin to work out the kinks". Customers will have a new experience, as they explore and get familiar with the setup. The owners estimate it will take about 3 weeks to work everything out and to stock to full capacity.

Simione says, "Crouch is hosting a Classic Auto Show

at the end of July, on that week-end, so we'll wait one additional
week for our Grand Opening! There will be mailers,

prizes, incredible specials and fun for everyone."

Simione goes on: "We have been so

excited during the set up,

we can hardly stand it. We look at our shelf designs and we just know

you will be excited too! Any touch up on

construction will also be happening during these first 3 weeks.

Our exterior sign might be a temporary banner until we get the lighting complete and the permanent sign hung."

Finally, we wanted to take some time

and remind folks why we're even at this

moment. 4 years have passed since we went public with our plans to move and

3 years have passed since our "ground breaking", so it's understandable

if urban legend and rumor have taken over and people have forgotten what this

is really about.

~ Greg and Gerold sent out a note to the community, with a biographical timeline

on their business:
~
We moved here in 1995. We were low key, kept to ourselves and enjoyed life in

Garden Valley, with our friends and family. In 2002, we struck up a series

of conversations with Dick and Jan McDowell, who owned the Crouch Merc at that time. They indicated they were selling and we were actually frequent customers over the years, so we gave it some thought. By Memorial day of 2002, we did make the decision and we purchased the Merc.

We fell in love with the store. Always, our goal was to grow the store from

convenience to full time grocery. We wanted to contribute to our community

and offer a choice of shopping locally or driving to Boise. To do that, we needed
 to expand our selection, work with vendors on pricing and align ourselves with a large distributor specializing in Independent Grocery Stores (Associated Foods).

Within a couple of years, we accomplished our goal and were quickly outgrowing

the space.

Excited, we moved ahead with plans to finance and build a more practical space

if we wanted to offer a true quality choice for residents and visitors. As 2008 was

coming to an end, we secured an SBA Loan and we held a ground breaking.

Does anyone recall October of 2008? The funding was withdrawn as banks

rushed to pull back from the economic downturn that had just happened.

We had to start over one month after our "groundbreaking".

Les Bois Credit Union stepped up to the plate and jumped through all of the

hoops and obstacles presented during the recession, to put a loan package

together. We were able to resume last year and now are nearing

completion. The new financing, however, was smaller

than the original amount and did not include the gas station and some other

original plans for the store. That is why you'll see us open in stages and not have the gas, first thing.

Bottom line,

The new space is beautiful, with a warm inviting atmosphere.

 It’s convenient for our customers and does not negatively affect

our downtown retail core. In fact, it has become

common for visitors and residents to park

at the new store and walk into the core of downtown to shop

or dine.

What will happen to the Old Merc?

First of all, the name will stay so that whatever business happens to lease the space

in the future, the building will always be the Crouch Merc. We think enough said.

There is a lot of history with this building, so we did not want to even contemplate

taking the identity away from the building. 

Gasoline will continue to be pumped from the Merc Building. We will staff until we are successful in moving the gas station or until the building leases. The hours of operation will be cut back in the

 beginning and expanded as we find a

 new use for the building. Hours of

operation will be communicated

 as they are established.

Of course, none of this would be

happening if it wasn’t for your continued

support and your choice to utilize our

services. We are just as committed as ever

 to make living here more convenient and

affordable and in line with the quality

of life we already enjoy in our Valley.

Thank you Thank you Thank you,

and we look forward to seeing you

this week at the new Market.