Widow Steers Family Business Over The Hump -- Grocery Chain's Turnaround Is Attributed To Somers At The Helm

KENT

Norma Somers was a contented housewife living in Des Moines five years ago when her husband's death thrust her reluctantly into taking over the family business.

Somers knew very little about running the local supermarket chain, Johnny's Food Centers, but she plunged in to learn. She found that operations had lagged during her husband's lengthy illness.

Now Somers says she has turned the small chain around. One money-losing store was closed in Kent last month, two other stores will be renovated and a new $2 million store will be built in Sumner.

"I have a grasp of it now," says Somers, Johnny's president and chief executive. "I know you have to sell a lot of groceries to make any money."

People who know her, from the employees who call her "Mrs. S" to Associated Grocers' official Annette Otis, say Somers has become a dynamic, community-oriented businesswoman.

"She's a very sharp woman," said Otis, director of retail image at Associated, the giant supermarket cooperative to which Johnny's belongs. "She decided she wanted to take on that challenge and has done very well at it."

Somers' husband, John, started the chain in 1945, when he personally built the first Johnny's in Des Moines. The chain now has five stores: its flagship store in Covington and others in Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent and Renton. The chain employs 380 people.

Johnny's is the fifth-largest member of Associated, which includes about 10 supermarket chains and many smaller store groups. Associated is a wholesale distributor, which allows its cooperative owners to take advantage of their combined buying power.

Otis says Johnny's has been very competitive in its South End markets.

Somers said last month's closing of the 35-year old East Hill Johnny's here was a "painful decision." The East Hill store was losing money, and its location lacked space to expand the parking lot and the store, which needed a delicatessen and bakery.

A new 44,000-square-foot market is planned for Sumner. Somers is ready to sign leases for the store and hopes construction would be done in time for a September opening. The Federal Way store, in Dash Point, is scheduled for a $300,000 expansion and face lift, and the Des Moines store may also be remodeled.

Over the years, Somers has added pharmacies and bulk-food dispensers to keep up with the changing needs of customers. One more change she would like to make: addition of in-store bank branches.

Johnny's stores already have an unusual merchandising mix, with several aisles of hardware, sporting goods and housewares in addition to food. The Kent store sells plumbing supplies, fishing equipment, paint, tee shirts, smoke alarms, ironing boards, car wax and shovels.

Somers says hardware makes up 16 percent of Johnny's sales.

Now that Johnny's is profitable, Somers, in her 60s, is faced with the prospect of retirement. She said she wants to retire but is not quite ready.

She wants her successor to be someone in the Johnny's family, meaning her son, Dale Reid, or one of the three Johnny's officials who have a small stake in the company: Eileen Erickson, comptroller; Chuck Spira, head of maintenance and produce; and Ed Byquist, nonfood coordinator.

Each of those three officials have been with Johnny's from 16 years to 30 years, and all worked their way up in the company.

At this point, Somers wants to keep control of the succession process, the outcome of which is unknown. "In any company, you'll always find a power struggle," she says. "This is what my job is now, to make sure there isn't one."