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• Stormans Inc.

Bayview Thriftway was originally built in 1952 as a Ralph's Food Center. This was Ralph Stormans second store. His original store, also called Ralph's Food Center was located at 114 W. Legion Way in downtown Olympia and built in 1944.

Ralph's Food Center #2 was located on Puget Sound next to the Olympia Yacht Club. The property and building was purchased from Brenner Oyster Company. The building was then remodeled into a state of the art supermarket. Unlike today, groceries were unloaded from trucks onto a conveyer belt and stored in the second floor of the building. Product was then picked from the second floor storage area and sent down another conveyor belt into the store. This was a highly efficient process for it's time and allowed volume purchasing to get the lowest cost of product.

In December of 1963 the original Brenner building was torn down and replaced with a new modern store. The store featured a host of "hi-tech" equipment and unique decor. When the store reopened the name was changed to Ralph's Thriftway.

In 1973 the store was again remodeled and the name was changed to Mark-It Foods. This was a unique concept aimed at providing the lowest possible prices to the customer. Typically the customer would put empty boxes on a flat bed cart. The boxes were left from stocking the products on the shelf and were piled in a bin at the front of the store. Customers used grease pencils to mark the prices on the products they bought thus eliminating the need for the store to spend the time marking the price on all products.

As the consumers needs changed so did the store. In 1984 the store was again extensively remodeled to provide the goods and services customers were asking for and renamed Bayview Marketplace. The "mark it yourself" concept gave way to scanners and became a full service, quality oriented store. The store was enlarged and a full service bakery and a deli/restaurant were added. A deck was built outside on the westside of the store and a second story balcony was added inside for customer to sit and enjoy their meals from the deli/restaurant. The view from both areas overlooked Puget Sound and the Olympia Yacht Club. Bayview Catering, a full service professional catering operation was also started at this time. This was truly a one of a kind, unique store.

In 1992 Bayview Marketplace was renamed Bayview Thriftway in order to provide continuity with the other Thriftway stores that Stormans owned.

Bayviews last remodel was finished in June of 2003. It was a comprehensive project that included new floors, refrigerated cases, décor, lighting and paint. A complete exterior remodel was done adding a new entry foyer under a tall glass tower structure. The produce, deli, bakery, bulk, meat, seafood, wine and floral departments were all changed to reflect the focus on the quality and uniqueness of the products they carry. The upstairs seating area with its incredible vista of Puget Sound was completely remodeled to reflect a quality dining room experience.

The Bayview School of Cooking was born and a complete home type kitchen was installed in the upstairs seating area. This gave Bayview the platform to hold an outstanding array of cooking classes from the simple to the complex. In partnership with Batdorf and Bronson coffee roasters the Bayview Dancing Goats Espresso bar was opened. Batdorf and Bronson was chosen not only because of their unsurpassed quality but because they are an integral part of our local community. Bayview also added a housewares department that features quality cooking equipment and utensils.