Rosauers now includes Huckleberry’s

Timing can be everything.

And for Rosauers Supermarkets, now is the time to reintroduce Huckleberry’s Natural Market to Spokane Valley.

“Ever since they closed the one on Sullivan we’ve been wanting to put one in here, but we knew a lot of changes would be needed to the store,” said Rosauers Valley store Manager Jim Dailey.

The Spokane-based grocer currently is celebrating its newly refurbished market at the corner of Sprague Avenue and University Road with a 4,000-square-foot, $2.1 million addition to the southeast portion of the building and several other new aspects throughout including three full aisles in the middle of the store dedicated as the Huckleberry’s natural food section.

Rosauers first opened its stand-alone Huckleberry’s Natural Market on Spokane’s South Hill in 1996 and shortly after opened a Spokane Valley store. But as the South Hill location thrived – and has since become somewhat of a landmark – the Valley stand-alone locale failed and closed after about a year. As the natural and organic food industry grew along with demand for it, Rosauers began to include the natural foods section within its new and existing stores.

Daily said his store carried very few, if any, of the items now featured in the Huckleberry’s section and said the timing was right for remodeling to remain competitive and meet customer demands.

Along with packaged and bottled items, the Valley store’s natural section includes supplements, frozen foods and bulk items.

“The biggest reason we did the remodel was to bring in the Huckleberry’s and it snowballed into needing more room,” he said, noting that the store is now the largest in the chain at about 60,000 square feet and the remodeling added 11 new positions.

The new square footage of the store is now the dairy section and an extensive beer, wine and single-serve beverage area. Also in the remodeling, a larger deli was created with new menu items featuring salad and pasta bars and grilled items. Deli customers will notice a new atmosphere with the additional seating area.

Shoppers might also notice some new flooring and lighting, a new yellow paint throughout the store, and a new home for its floral department.