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When Zupan's Markets opens its newest store Friday on Hayden Island across the Interstate 5 Bridge, it will be a fresh move for a Vancouver-based company that hits hard on the theme of freshness.
The store will open all but directly across from Safeway, which maintains one of its showier locations there with a Starbucks backed by a polished baby-grand piano.
Says Michael Zupan, director of operations for the family owned Zupan's: "We feel there is a need for a high-quality grocery store in that area, not only for Jantzen Beach and Hayden Island, but also for people from North Portland and Vancouver."
It would be the sixth Zupan's and, it turns out, the only serving a Clark County clientele.
Not lost on Michael Zupan is the flow of thousands of Clark County residents who commute to jobs in Portland every day commuters within easy view of the new location. And nearby, condominiums are emerging on either side of the Columbia River that draw people with an urban orientation a match for Zupan's customer profile.
A driving force for change
At 36, Zupan is not afraid to give life to his ideas in what's become a hot submarket of the supermarket industry. Since joining parents John and Sandi Zupan at age of 22, he's been driving transformation of the family's stores from garden-variety supermarkets into stylish markets for the patron of fine ingredients.
Zupan's, with headquarters in Vancouver by no means has the lock on specialty groceries and prepared foods. Among the most prominent are Nature's, Whole Food Markets and New Seasons. Trader Joe's, while more narrowly tailored, competes in some product categories, as well. Mainstream supermarkets are also offering more specialty items catering to the time-squeezed professional.
Observes Mert Meeker, who recruited Zupan's to Portland's West Burnside, "So far, there has been enough market share. New Seasons is probably the most head-to-head with Zupan's. But Zupan's has some very good real estate and loyal customers, and as long as they stay current, there is room for them, as well as these others."
Zupan's stores are 15,000 to 20,000 square feet, compared to the 40,000 to 50,000 square feet of the traditional supermarket.
"It's the classic story of the next generation follows in the...