Success Story
Bromley Grocery
By Debbye Omlie
“After 9-11 we knew within 30 days we were in trouble. People stopped crossing the border and we were losing $10,000 in sales a week. That loss continued for 18 months before sales improved. We were lucky. Because of the decline of the Canadian dollar we had already been working with Tom Dorr and knew where to go for help,” commented Bob Bromley, co-owner of Bromley’s Market in Sumas, Washington.
Bromley’s Market is a full-service independently owned supermarket that provides retail groceries, frozen food, fresh meat, produce, non-foods, video, beer/wine, and services to the local community as well as northeast Whatcom County. It has operated continuously since the mid-1930s. Bromley and his wife bought the store from his parents in 1999.
“In the grocery business there is no room for many mistakes and it is extremely cash flow sensitive,” according to Bromley. In the early 1990’s the store did $12,000,000 in sales a year with 80% of sales coming from Canadian customers. In December of 2002, sales were 1.95 million with 10% sales from Canadians.
“Tom helped us with re-financing and innovative marketing efforts to Canadians and Americans. In the grocery business when things go bad, the decline is fast. Improvement is always slower. While we couldn’t qualify for a disaster relief loan, Tom did help re-position us for a SBA loan. As a result, I am in business today and keep growing at a higher rate than the average business in the past 2-3 years,” stated Bromley.
For advice to others, Bromley recommends when one goes into business realize there might be times that one has to sacrifice until things get better. It is important for business owners to be patient, have faith and keep going to work everyday. Bromley, stated, “To be successful and make it, don’t be afraid to reach out to an organization like the SBDC. Most owners have certain talents and can’t do it all. Realize your strengths and weaknesses and get the help you need to succeed.”