Local Family to Anchor Downtown TD with Natural Grocery & Deli, Health Hub
The Steltzer family recently purchased the former Chronicle building at 315 Federal Street in The Dalles with the intent of renovating the building for a natural food grocery and deli as well as creating space for six other like-minded businesses. They hope to be open in late spring or early summer of 2023.
By Tom Peterson
A local family is looking to make major improvements in downtown The Dalles by purchasing and revitalizing a long-shuttered building in the heart of the business district.
The move could provide a major economic boost to the community by creating jobs and enticing more shoppers as it anchors the downtown with a larger grocery store. Locals and tourists alike have often requested such a store in the business district, which has been lacking a larger grocer since Safeway moved out of the current Sawyer’s Hardware store decades ago.
On Nov. 30, Steltzer Enterprises LLC bought the former Chronicle building at 315 Federal Street for $1.3 million, according to Wasco County Property records.
That’s as local as it can get.
The Steltzer Family of and from Dufur owns Azure Standard one of the nation's largest independent distributors of natural, organic and non-GMO foods as well as home health, outdoor, and garden-related products. The company has 800,000 active customers.
And their headquarters are on Dufur Valley Road.
That bodes well for The Dalles.
Meaning - money earned in the new enterprise will stay here, and the owners have a vested stake in improving the community for future generations.
Bets Steltzer has operated Farm Stand in the Gorge in Hood River for the past 8 years, and she and her siblings are now working toward opening a second store of the same name in the former Chronicle building at 315 Federal Street. They also have commitments for leased space from six other businesses.
Photo of Farm Stand’s current store in Hood River.
Bets Stelzer, 28, of The Dalles, is the driving force behind the development.
She has been operating Farm Stand in the Gorge in Hood River for the past eight years stocking Azure Standard products. She and her siblings are now putting together the pieces to open a second store of the same name in the former Chronicle building. At the same time, they are developing a health hub of other “like-minded” businesses that will offer yoga, smoothies, clothing, massage, acupuncture, catering and a bar in half of the building. Six businesses are committed to leases, she said.
Click here to enlarge the image. This floor plan provided by Beth Steltzer shows the location of each business types within the former Chronicle building at 315 Federal Street.
Farm Stand will take about 7,500 square feet of space of the former Chronicle building and the other 7,500 will be rented out to the various businesses mentioned above.
Azure Standard CEO David Steltzer said it has been great to watch his kids work together on the project, each using their own expertise. “Their young and active and full of ideas,” he said. “ I think they might do some cool stuff…”
“I am pumped in a sober way,” said Bets Stelzer. “This is going to be a very very big project. But big projects are my jam. We’ve given so many walk-throughs with engineers, contractors and potential tenants. And there is so much excitement for the building and our vision for it. It says a lot about what we are going to do. There is going to be a market for it.”
Bets' father, Azure Standard CEO and Founder David Steltzer said Bets and her siblings are the driving force behind the development of the organic and natural grocery and deli in downtown The Dalles.
Steltzer Enterprises LLC
It will be a family enterprise.
“The building was purchased by Stelzer Enterprises and is backed by Azure, but it is being driven by Bets who runs the Farm Stand and several of her brothers and sisters as well,” said David Stelzer.
Stelzer said son Ezekiel will provide business and marketing expertise. Daughter Sarah would be organizing the development of the building and keeping the schedule.
Daughter Abby, who is a licensed massage therapist, wants to be involved in the subletting of space to professional services such as massage or chiropractic health. And Son Zerah will be focusing on construction and maintenance at the building.
Some Local Reaction
Mike Nagle
Some locals are seeing it as a good sign as the 15,000-square-foot building on more than a half acre has stood empty since the summer of 2018.
“I’m tired of looking across the street at that empty building and telling the same stories,” said Barber Mike Nagle, owner of Uppercut with windows facing the recently-purchased building. “Empty buildings are bad for the community. It’s kind of a blight…”
“I feel, overall, (new owners and development) is going to be a good thing,” he said. Plus, “I get a new place to eat.”
Dorinda Harding
Next Door Dorinda Harding with Merle Norman Cosmetics and Joan’s Beuty Salon said she was happy the building sold. “I don’t know if it will help me or not. But it will be great to see that side of the street getting more traffic.”
Denny Smith former owner of The Dalles Chronicle sold the building to the Steltzers on Nov. 30, according to Wasco County Property records.
Why Now? Why The Dalles?
Photo of Farm Stand’s produce and groceries in its store in Hood River.
“We felt the time was right,” said David Stelzer of the recent purchase. “It will be positive for Azure to have a natural food store and deli in downtown The Dalles.” Although it does not have the same name, it will serve as a flagship for Azure, noting communities the size of The Dalles, larger and smaller, across the nation are often in a natural food desert.
Azure will be able to use The Dalles store as an example of how to deliver and market foods in smaller towns across the country.
Bets Stelzer said there were multiple reasons for choosing The Dalles for the store.
“It’s the only realistic place left to live in the Gorge,” she said, noting it was relatively inexpensive compared to the communities of Hood River, Mosier, and White Salmon. “If you think about it, there is no other place to go. There is a lot of movement in this direction.”
She also pointed out that the affordability of natural foods was within reach of a lot more families and changing tastes and gentrification are creating a higher demand.
Azure attributes its success to offering the best ingredients at an affordable price.
And, The Dalles is a shopping hub for the greater region.
She was also inspired by Mary Hanlon who is working on a project to build housing and a brew pub at the former Griffith Motors site just down the street. She said she was also emboldened by Jen Dillard’s success in creating loft apartments in the Honald building above Lilo’s BBQ on Second Street.
“The Dalles has been so wonderful” compared to the red tape in Hood River. “People in The Dalles are so helpful and motivated. I’m excited about working here.”
Bets Steltzer with her four children. Steltzer said part of the family’s motivation to open a natural food grocery and health hub was to make The Dalles a better place for current and future generations.
One more reason
Bets, who has four children, said she and her siblings all live in The Dalles. They all moved away from Dufur and then came back. They ended up landing in The Dalles. “We all bought houses here. If we’re going to live in The Dalles, let’s make it a place that our kids want to grow up in.”
At The Heart of It
“We’re a whole ingredient company at our core,” said David Steltzer of Azure. “Our primary focus is ingredients for the person who cooks at home. Our mission is to create an abundance of healthy food options throughout the country. Opening this store is within the same mission.”
He said the new store will be representative of what is needed in small to mid-size communities, which often lack organic natural food choices.
Renovations
The grocery and deli will occupy the east-facing section of the building, and they will remove an interior wall to open the space up for a grocery. Additional entry doors will also be added to the building along Third Street. Possible seating for the deli along the sidewalk may be added as well.
Bets said they would retain most of the partitioning in the existing building but redevelop each rental space based on individual business needs.
Bets Steltzer said that the tinting on windows will be lightened on this portion of the building which is more t than 100 years old. And a more welcoming door entrance will also be added. This part of the building is expected to house clothing retail.
“Quite a bit of renovation has to happen,” she said. “The building needs to get opened up to the street in a couple of places.” The retail space on the corner of Washington and Third also needs some work. “We need to open it up with doors and lighten the windows so you can see inside.”
David Stelzer said they want to get the building open as soon as possible but also realized it would take some time to get approvals through city planning and renovations completed. Still, he was optimistic the business could be up and running by Spring or early Summer.
Making the Deal Happen
Bets Steltzer thanked local Realtor Brian Lauterbach and former owners of the building, The Smith Family, for being patient as it took more than six months to put the financing together. Steltzer said there were other offers on the building, but Lauterbach and the Smiths held out because they believed the project would be the most beneficial for The Dalles community.
Azure Standard is also negotiating to lease the former Kramers Market in Dufur owned by John Dillon. Azure intends to open a natural food grocery at the site and work towards a wholesale bakery.
Prospects in Dufur
Azure Standard is also engaging in lease negotiations for the former Kramer Market in Dufur owned by John Dillon. David Steltzer said he hoped to have a signed lease by the end of the year.
“We will brand it with our own name (Azure). It will be a bit more of a nostalgic thing - a service to our community and a tourist destination for Azure tourism. It will be a natural food grocery, but our long-term plan includes a wholesale bakery. My daughter (Crystal) is a baker extraordinaire and she wants to put a bakery in there which will help make it pay in the long run.
More on Azure Standard
Azure Standard is in a growth period right now as demand for organic natural ingredients have seen a major uptick since COVID created time for people to examine their food choices and rekindled the desire to cook at home.
The Stelzers own farmland in both Wasco and Sherman counties and have been utilizing chemical-free farming practices since the early 1970s. They began the natural food business in the late 1980s. They are fourth-generation farmers.
David Steltzer said they are currently doubling the size of their main warehouse in Sherman County while also expanding their brands.
The company recently purchased Sweet Creek Foods in Elmira, Or., a canned and jarred food products company. They are also in the midst of a private label push for its Azure Market Organics brand.
In recent months, the company has also created a pilot distribution system in Los Angeles, where smaller trucks are used to deliver their products to smaller stores in the traffic-congested metropolis. If it is successful, he said the same system could be deployed to other major metro markets such as New York and Chicago.
Photo of the warehouse fire at Azure Standard headquarters on Dufur Valley Road on April 18, 2022.
All of this is occurring at the same time the company is recovering from a fire at one of its warehouses at headquarters on Dufur Valley Road.
