Town Pump aims for end of year completion

The new Town Pump store in Thompson Falls is on schedule to be open by the end of the year, the company said last week. Bill McGladdery, Director of Communications, said the utilities are in place at the site and the framing work on the nearly 14,000 square foot building should be completed by August 1.

"I think the community is going to be really excited about the new store," McGladdery said. "It will be a much better layout."

The new store will be 10,100 square feet, with the Lucky Lil's casino taking up 3,500 square feet. McGladdery said the store will have 42 cooler doors to offer a larger selection of beverages, and a dedicated wine area with an expanded selection. There will be 16 fueling positions, with two dedicated diesel islands. "We will be adding some staff as well," he stated.

Crew Contractors is the general contractor for the Thompson Falls project, and is hiring local subcontractors, McGladdery said.

Town Pump recently completed a new store in Troy, and is currently working on new stores in Bozeman, East Helena, and soon in Columbus. The company is building new stores at locations where the stores are smaller buildings and restrictive on what they can do and offer customers, McGladdery said. "We're getting a very good response (at the new buildings) and an increase in the number of customers coming through our doors."

The new Thompson Falls store will have an open kitchen so customers can see staff preparing items. "People are pleased with being able to watch the food being prepared," McGladdery said of the similar deli area in the new Troy store.

Town Pump, based in Butte, offers a variety of grants to local communities. The company provides $10,000 a year to the backpack program and last year donated $8,000 to local food banks. "Thompson Falls is a strong community for donations for the food bank program," McGladdery said. In April, the company donated $1,000 to the libraries in Plains and Thompson Falls, as well as the Sanders County Bookmobile, for the summer reading programs, and recently provided a grant to the Trout Creek Rural Fire District for a new AED defibrillator. "We are committed to giving back to communities all across the state," McGladdery added.