Petition Drive Started To Keep Huckleberry’S Open

Health food lovers are protesting Rosauers’ decision to close its Spokane Valley Huckleberry’s store.

After last week’s announcement that Huckleberry’s will close its doors for good tonight, one Valley resident has decided to do something about it.

Larry Koss has organized a petition drive to show company officials there’s still demand for a natural foods store here. He’s stationed himself in front of the store since Saturday. He’s spent more than 40 hours collecting signatures.

“Customers were rolling over and dying, employees were rolling over and dying,” Koss, 56, said. “I didn’t want to roll over and die.”

The former school teacher and wellness counselor, who moved to the Valley a year ago, said he is not affiliated with any organization. He’s just an average customer who doesn’t want to lose the store.

Koss is trying to collect 3,000 signatures by Saturday evening when the store closes. By Thursday evening he had 1,860 signatures.

He said he knows keeping the current location is out of the question, but perhaps company officials will be convinced of customer support and build a smaller store at a different location or incorporate a Huckleberry’s in the new Rosauers planned at University City.

“When you go into natural foods, you’re representing a lifestyle,” he said.

But Rosauers CEO Larry Geller said the company isn’t currently looking at other Huckleberry locations. It will keep its South Hill store and expand organic foods sections in other Spokane area stores.

Rosauers opened the store on the corner of Sprague and Sullivan a little more than a year after it opened its 17,500-square-foot South Hill store.

But the competition was too fierce and store size was just too big for the Valley market.

“I think the people who do support the store are very passionate,” Geller said of the petition drive.

As Koss sat in front of Huckleberry’s on Thursday collecting signatures customers exclaimed their disappointment.

“Where else am I going to buy my tea?” asked one.

“I’m so sad,” said another, shaking her head as she signed the petition.

Coeur d’Alene resident Catherine McLandess echoed those sentiments. She drives weekly to the Valley to do all her shopping.

“Personally, I get everything here. They have unique speciality items. We just don’t have anything like this,” she said. “It’s a nice shopping experience, too. You don’t feel like you’re in huge Costco or anything.”

Rosauers executives say they plan to move the juice and espresso bar to their store at 10920 E. Sprague.

They’ll move the natural living department to the Rosauers store on North Division and the bulk foods section to Super One Foods in Ellensburg.

Some Valley Huckleberry’s employees will move to the South Hill store, but company officials said they don’t know the exact number.

“Even some laid off employees were placed in Rosauers stores,” said Bill Haraldson, Rosauers chief operating officer.

Company officials said about 15 to 18 employees at the South Hill Huckleberry’s will lose their jobs to make way for Valley employees.

For Valley Huckleberry employees, the show of customer support is rewarding.

“It’s very gratifying for us that these people like us enough to do this,” said Valley store manager Alan Shephard. “Natural foods stores take people who are passionate to sustain them.”