 | |
 Bi-Mart inScappoose, Oregon | |
| Company type | Private,employee-owned |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1955,Yakima, Washington, U.S. |
| Headquarters | Eugene, Oregon |
Number of locations | 80 Bi-Mart locations, 5 Cascade Farm and Outdoor locations |
Key people | Marty Smith (CEO) Richard Truett (President & Co-CEO) Chris Peddicord (Vice President) Don Lerber (Director of Advertising) |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, housewares, sporting goods, automotive, hardware, toys, electronics, foods, beer, seasonal goods |
| Revenue |  US$878 million (2021) |
Number of employees | 3,200 (2021) |
| Website | www |
Bi-Mart is anemployee-owned chain of retailers located in the western U.S.states ofOregon,Washington, andIdaho.[1] A typical Bi-Mart houses merchandise includes electronics and small appliances, housewares, hardware and power tools, sporting goods, automotive, apparel, canned and packaged food, personal care products, and, through the end of 2021, a pharmacy at many locations. The median size of a Bi-Mart store is 31,000 square feet (2,900 m2).[2] As of January 2023, there are 75 store locations.[3] LikeCostco andSam's Club, Bi-Mart stores are membership stores; unlike those chains, its members-only policy started as a workaround tofair trade laws established in the United States in the 1930s such as the Miller-Tydings Act and those related tosuggested retail prices.[1] Membership for an entire family costs $5 and never expires.
The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered inEugene, Oregon. Bi-Mart's first store opened inYakima, Washington, in 1955, but it did not open a second store until 1962. In 1976, Bi-Mart was bought byPay 'n Save, which itself was acquired byThrifty Corporation in 1984. It was subsequently merged into the formerKmart subsidiaryPayLess Drug, and finally purchased byRite Aid in 1996.
In 1997, Bi-Mart's management and Endeavour Capital (a Portland-basedventure capital firm) bought the company;[4] they sold it to employees on March 1, 2004, for $94 million, which included $12.5 million contributed from the401(k) plan. Bi-Mart is the sole surviving store name of former Pay 'n Save subsidiaries. (Schucks Auto Supply retained its name until acquired byO'Reilly Automotive, Inc. and rebranded in 2010.)
In October 2003, Bi-Mart announced it was expanding eastward. Eight stores were planned with the first store inHavre, Montana. The second store opened three years later inWeiser, Idaho. In 2006, Bi-Mart exited theMontana market due to poor sales.
In 2019, Bi-Mart announced the closure of pharmacies at theirEast Wenatchee, Washington location,[5] two locations inVancouver, Washington, and their location inScappoose, Oregon.[6] Bi-Mart announced in November 2019 that it would also close pharmacies at an additional 13 stores in the Portland area.[7] The stores affected by the pharmacy closures were to remain open.
On September 30, 2021, Bi-Mart announced that they would close most of their remaining in-store pharmacies, and prescription files would be transferred to nearbyWalgreens locations. In select areas where there was no Walgreens nearby, Walgreens was to take over and operate the existing pharmacy departments inside those Bi-Mart locations. The locations that retained a pharmacy and operate under Walgreens ownership are Monmouth, Eugene (18th Ave), Stayton, Klamath Falls, (53rd St), La Pine, Prineville, and Weiser, ID.[8]
In 2014, Bi-Mart opened its first location under the Cascade Farm and Outdoor name inWalla Walla, Washington. Bi-Mart announced that they were looking at empty buildings in a variety of locations for future stores.[9] Additional locations have since opened inCoos Bay, Oregon,Keizer, Oregon, andSpringfield, Oregon.[10] Unlike Bi-Mart's regular stores, a membership is not required to shop at Cascade Farm and Outdoor.
