Bi-Mart is an

employee-owned Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

chain of retailers located in the western U.S.

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. A typical Bi-Mart houses merchandise includes electronics and small appliances, housewares, hardware and power tools, sporting goods, automotive, apparel, canned and packaged food, personal care products, and, through the end of 2021, a pharmacy at many locations. The median size of a Bi-Mart store is . As of January 2023, there are 75 store locations. Like

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

and

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is a chain of membership-only warehouse club retail stores in the United States owned by Walmart. It was founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam's Wholesale Club. , Sam's ...

, Bi-Mart stores are membership stores; unlike those chains, its members-only policy started as a workaround to

fair trade law A fair trade law was a statute in any of various states of the United States that permitted manufacturers the right to specify the minimum retail price of a commodity, a practice known as " price maintenance". Such laws first appeared in 1931 dur ...

s established in the United States in the 1930s such as the Miller-Tydings Act and those related to

suggested retail price The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

s. Membership for an entire family costs $5 and never expires.

History

The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. Bi-Mart's first store opened in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

, in 1955, but it did not open a second store until 1962. In 1976, Bi-Mart was bought by

Pay 'n Save Pay 'n Save Corporation was a retail company founded by Monte Lafayette Bean in Seattle, Washington, in 1940. Over the years, Pay 'n Save was the leading drugstore chain in Washington and was the owner of several Washington-based retailers, inc ...

, which itself was acquired by Thrifty Corporation in 1984. It was subsequently merged into the former

Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...

subsidiary

PayLess Drug Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States. The combined company was formed in April 1994 when Los Angeles–based TCH Corporation, the ...

, and finally purchased by

Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. Prior to its first bankruptcy in 2023, it was the th ...

in 1996. In 1997, Bi-Mart's management and Endeavour Capital (a Portland-based

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm) bought the company; they sold it to employees on March 1, 2004, for $94 million, which included $12.5 million contributed from the

401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their ...

plan. Bi-Mart is the sole surviving store name of former Pay 'n Save subsidiaries. ( Schucks Auto Supply retained its name until acquired by O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. and rebranded in 2010.) In October 2003, Bi-Mart announced it was expanding eastward. Eight stores were planned with the first store in

Havre, Montana Havre ( ) is the county seat of and the largest city in Hill County, Montana, United States. Havre is nicknamed the crown jewel of the Hi-Line (Montana), Hi-Line. It is said to be named after the city of Le Havre in France. As of the 2020 Unite ...

. The second store opened three years later in

Weiser, Idaho Weiser ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Idaho. With its mild climate, the city supports farm, orchard, and livestock endeavors in the vicinity. The city sits at the confluence of the Weiser River with the great Snake Ri ...

. In 2006, Bi-Mart exited the

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

market due to poor sales.

Pharmacy closures

In 2019, Bi-Mart announced the closure of pharmacies at their

East Wenatchee, Washington East Wenatchee is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 13,190, a 129.1% increase on the 2000 census, having annexed much of the East Wenatchee Bench CDP. As of the 2020 census, the popul ...

location, two locations in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

, and their location in

Scappoose, Oregon Scappoose is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for a nearby stream, which drains the southern part of the county. The name "Scappoose" is of Native American origin, and is said to mean "gravelly plain."

. Bi-Mart announced in November 2019 that it would also close pharmacies at an additional 13 stores in the Portland area. The stores affected by the pharmacy closures were to remain open. On September 30, 2021, Bi-Mart announced that they would close most of their remaining in-store pharmacies, and prescription files would be transferred to nearby

Walgreens Walgreens is an American pharmacy store chain. It is the second largest in the United States, behind CVS Pharmacy. As of March 2025, the company operated more than 8,700 stores in the U.S. Walgreens has been the subject of a number of lawsuit ...

locations. In select areas where there was no Walgreens nearby, Walgreens was to take over and operate the existing pharmacy departments inside those Bi-Mart locations. The locations that retained a pharmacy and operate under Walgreens ownership are Monmouth, Eugene (18th Ave), Stayton, Klamath Falls, (53rd St), La Pine, Prineville, and Weiser, ID.

Cascade Farm and Outdoor

In 2014, Bi-Mart opened its first location under the Cascade Farm and Outdoor name in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...

. Bi-Mart announced that they were looking at empty buildings in a variety of locations for future stores. Additional locations have since opened in

Coos Bay, Oregon Coos Bay () is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. It shares Coos Bay with the adjacent city of North Bend, Oregon, North Bend. Together, they are often referred to as ...

Keizer, Oregon Keizer () is a city located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, along the 45th parallel north, 45th parallel. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 39,376, making it the List of cities in Oregon, 14th most populous city in ...

, and

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...

. Unlike Bi-Mart's regular stores, a membership is not required to shop at Cascade Farm and Outdoor.

References

External links

*
Smaller and steady win the race
a December 2004 article from ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' {{ORCompanies Companies based in Eugene, Oregon Retail companies established in 1955 Discount stores of the United States Economy of the Northwestern United States Employee-owned companies of the United States Pay 'n Save 1955 establishments in Oregon