Bi-Mart

Infobox_Company
company_name = Bi-Mart
company_
company_type = discount membership store
foundation = 1955 Yakima, Washington
location = Eugene, Oregon
industry = Retail
products = clothing, footwear, housewares, sporting goods, hardware, toys electronics, foods, pharmacy, beer, seasonal goods
homepage = http://www.bimart.com/

Bi-Mart is an employee-owned chain of retailers located exclusively in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho in the United States. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. The company is currently one of the last two remaining subsidiaries of the defunct Pay 'n Save.

History

Bi-Mart's first store opened in Yakima, Washington in 1955 and did not open its second store until 1962. In 1976, it was bought by Pay 'n Save, and beginning in 1984, Bi-Mart's corporate parent was bought by Thrifty Corporation, which itself was merged into the former Kmart subsidiary PayLess Drug, culminating with the 1996 purchase by Rite Aid.

In 1997, Bi-Mart's senior management and a Portland-based venture capital firm bought the company; they sold it to its employees as of March 1, 2004 for $94 million, which included $12.5 million contributed from their 401(k) plan.

In October 2003, Bi-Mart announced it was heading east and opening stores in Montana and Idaho. They planned 8 stores and the first store opened in Havre, Montana. The second store opened 3 years later in Weiser, Idaho.

As of December 2004, the company projects sales for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2005 of $650 million, compared with $621 million for the previous year.

In 2006, Bi-Mart exited the Montana market after poor sales.

Membership store

Like Costco and Sam's Club, Bi-Mart stores are membership stores; unlike those chains, its members-only policy started as a work-around to fair trade laws established in the United States in the 1930s by laws such as the Miller-Tydings Act and those related to suggested retail prices. The membership fee is much lower than other membership stores: $5 buys you a lifetime membership.

Lucky Number Tuesday

One of the special features of a Bi-Mart membership is that you are eligible to win on their Lucky Number Tuesdays. Each store chooses approximately 50 card numbers from among their own store's membership numbers to win a variety of prizes, from the "Big Prize" (up to $300 value; only one of these is chosen) to the small prize in which only the last number of your 6 or 7 digit Bi-Mart number must match (small prizes such as a box of tissues, a jar of honey, etc.).

External links

* [http://www.bimart.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/110328827295300.xml Smaller and steady win the race] , a December 2004 article from "The Oregonian"

References