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Three Bears Butte

The following article appeared in the Montana Standard on April 4, 2006.

Grocery chain looks to Butte

By Roberta Forsell Stauffer of The Montana Standard - 04/04/2006

A warehouse-type grocery chain from Alaska wants to open a store in Butte.

Called Three Bears Alaska Inc., the company describes its stores as a cross between a warehouse store such as Costco and a traditional grocery store.

The new shopping option would go in just west of Thunderbolt Harley-Davidson on Mount Highland Drive, and it would feature a gas station as well.

Company Vice President Stephen Mierop requested time at this week’s council meeting to present the company’s plans and request a tax break.

“They’re serious, and it’ll be a good presentation for the public to see and the council to see on Wednesday night,” said Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Paul Babb. “They will have a PowerPoint presentation and you’ll be able to see what the store would look like.” Babb said county officials have been working with the company since last year, and he thinks it would “fill a good niche,” keeping more shoppers here and also attracting people from outlying areas such as Sheridan and Dillon.

He’s also in favor of granting the tax break, but said there will be a public hearing on that question before commissioners vote.

Under state law, local governments can exempt businesses from paying property taxes during construction and also allow them to pay only half their taxes for the first five years of operation. Starting in year six, the break drops to 40 percent, then 30 percent in year seven, until the business is paying 100 percent of taxes in year 10.

Mierop estimates Three Bears’ full tax annual bill would be about $119,000, whereas the current tax revenue from the property is less than $1,500.

“Fifty percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing,” Babb said. “Until Butte gets to the point where we don’t have to offer incentives anymore, I think it makes perfect sense to use this tool.” The company has five stores in Alaska that employ about 200 employees. Its first store opened in Tok in 1980, and two other more traditional grocery stores are in Valdez and Seward.

Its first mini-warehouse store opened in Kenai in the mid-1990s. Last July, the company opened a similar 51,000-square-foot store in Palmer.

The council meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on the third floor of the courthouse, 155 W. Granite.

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© 2006 Three Bears Alaska, Inc.