Best Buy Takes Over in Westside Shopping Area

SILVERDALE, WA-The local retail operation of Portland-based Fred Meyer supermarket chain will close May 19, according to a Fred Meyer spokesman. Best Buy, as part of an aggressive expansion plan that will bring its total store count to approximately 550, has unveiled plans to take over the site.

Fred Meyer has supermarkets in six Western states, including a large location in nearby East Bremerton. That store, unlike the grocery-only Silverdale location, sells a variety of items, including clothing, jewelry and garden supplies. Fred Meyer, which has enjoyed much of its success in the larger locations, is a member of the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR), one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers, with fiscal 1999 sales of $45.4 billion.

Best Buy, based in Eden Prairie, MN, will have electronics competition in the neighborhood. Circuit City and The Good Guys are a block away with more independents located in the nearby Kitsap Mall. Best Buy said it would hire approximately 100 to 150 new full-time and part-time employees before the refurbished, 45,000-sf facility reopens in the fall.