Low-flying loonie leads to closure of only grocery store in Sumas

A longtime retail landmark is going out of business this week, marking another closure among food markets in eastern Whatcom County.

Bob Bromley decided last week it was time to shut down Bromley’s Market, which is on Cherry Street in Sumas, near the U.S.-Canada border crossing.

The Bromley family has operated the grocery store for 57 years, and Bob Bromley said there has been a store on that property since 1937, making the decision to close a tough one. It also meant telling 14 people they will no longer have jobs.

“We wanted to continue on, but we couldn’t keep pouring money into this,” Bromley said. “It hurts.”

Bromley said slow sales the past two years and rising regulatory costs were factors in the decision to close. With the value of the Canadian dollar expected to remain low this year, there wasn’t much chance of a sales rebound.

Sumas businesses are heavily influenced by Canadian traffic. According to the Washington Department of Revenue, the Sumas food/ beverage store category had nearly $1.1 million in sales in 2013, when the Canadian dollar was nearly at par with the U.S. dollar. In 2016, when the Canadian dollar hovered around 70 cents, sales in the category dropped to about $745,000.

Bromley recalled four different times when the Canadian dollar had downturns, but his business couldn’t outlast this one. When the Canadian dollar is strong, dairy products are the most popular seller, although when the loonie gets close to par most any grocery item sells, he said.

The closure of Bromley’s Market marks another change in the grocery store landscape in north Whatcom County, particularly east of Interstate 5. Dodson’s IGA in Nugents Corner closed last month after a buyer failed to materialize. Outside of Lynden and Everson, much of the area is now without a traditional grocery store, although several convenience stores and small markets populate the region.

Cross-border traffic remains strong. Nearly 3.6 million people have crossed southbound through the five Whatcom County border crossings in the first four months of 2017 — nearly identical to the first four months of 2016, according to the data gathered by Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute. With the Canadian dollar remaining low, it’s expected that border crossing numbers will stay at this level, said Hart Hodges, director at Western’s Center for Economics and Business Research.