PORT TOWNSEND — The Sea Breeze, a small grocery that provided its neighborhood with essential goods well before the term “convenience store” was invented, will be knocked down today.
Contractor Dave Sather, whose family owned the grocery before it was purchased by current owner Avtar Nagmy, will supervise the demolition, which is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m.
“It will take about three hours, and then we’ll haul everything away,” he said.
“There will be nothing here by the end of the day.”
Sather is building the new Sea Breeze at the other end of the property at the corner of West Sims Way and Hendricks Street.
It has been under construction for more than a year.
The store will more than double the size of the old 1,400-square-foot building with a new 3,500-square-foot space.
The biggest difference, said employee Carol Kenyon, will be a deli section that will serve hot food.
Kenyon also is excited about the new walk-in coolers and freezers, which will give customers direct access to more products and not require the sales staff to move beer from an unrefrigerated back room.
The new facility also is air-conditioned.
“It gets really hot in here during the summertime,” Kenyon said as she helped clean out the old store in advance of the demolition.
“When that happens, we have to take all the chocolate and put it in the cooler so it doesn’t melt.
“We won’t have to do that in the new store.”
Best of all, Kenyon said, the new store will have separate restrooms for men and women instead of just one facility.
The store, which closed Monday, will reopen in its new space in about three weeks, according to store manager Jason Nagmy, Avtar’s brother.
Jason regretted the closing but said it is necessary to move inventory and prepare the new space.
“Our customers are loyal,” he said. “They will come back.”
What will not change is the store’s friendly, welcoming atmosphere, he said.
“This is a community store that everyone around here supports, and we make them feel welcome,” Jason said.
“We talk to everyone who comes in here,” said Kenyon, who has worked at Sea Breeze for 10 years and is taking a lead role in the reopening.
“I worked at Safeway for 30 years before working here,” she noted. “You could say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to people there, but it was all about getting people through the line quickly.”
Kenyon said it’s not just the friendly atmosphere that keeps people coming back to Sea Breeze.
“We have the coldest beer in town,” she said.
Sather said the building dated back to the 1930s, with several additions built over the past 60 years.
There have been several owners.
The new store will retain the Sea Breeze name, and the wooden relief sign from the old building will be put in a place of honor in the new store.
Sather said reclaimed land under the new store will be landscaped and turned into a garden while a large outdoor area in front will provide a place for customers to sit outside during nice weather.
A smoke shop that was in a separate building behind the old store will become more visible and get a new coat of paint, James Nagmy said.
The four gas pumps will remain at the same location but will be more easily accessible, Sather said.
A “no left turn” sign at the store’s intersection will be moved several feet from the road, which Nagmy hopes will eliminate the need to rebuild the sign several times a year.
“It does get knocked down a lot,” he said.
The new hours for the store will be from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
