Mitch and Carol Beare are opening the new Grocery Outlet store in Clearlake, Calif., located in the old Rite Aid building on Olympic Drive. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE – Clearlake’s requests for a Grocery Outlet have been answered with a new store, set to open this summer around the end of July.

The 20,000-square-foot building that once was Rite Aid, located in the Burns Valley Mall on Olympic Drive, is going to be completely remodeled, said Grocery Outlet Inc. spokesperson Sheena Stevens.

“There were a lot of local requests for a store in Clearlake,” said Stevens. “We’ve been keeping an eye on the real estate for when good property would become available and it made sense.”

Dale Neiman, Clearlake's city administrator and head of the redevelopment agency, confirmed that Grocery Outlet had been looking at real estate in Lake County for a while.

Grocery Outlet's Lakeport and Ukiah locations reportedly do very well, and the chain has more than 130 locations spread across the western United States, the company reported.

Expect a hometown feel to the new store, thanks to the new owners and longtime Lake County residents, Mitch and Carol Beare.

Carol is from Lakeport and Mitch came over from Sonoma County. They met while they both worked at a Chuckie Cheese venue, so working together as owners of the new store will be familiar ground.

After getting married in 1985 they had six children, several of which will be working at the new store.

The Beares plan to hire as many people as they can.

Typically, a new Grocery Outlet store employs 20 to 30 people, said Stevens. They also will utilize both the adult and youth work experience programs at Lake One-Stop Inc. as well as programs through some local high schools.

“One of our goals is to have the best service, and the cleanest store,” said Carol Beare. “And, as business grows, we can hire even more people.”

Those interested in employment with the new store may apply online at the corporate Web site, www.groceryoutlet.com.

To find out more about the work experience and on the job training programs at Lake One-Stop, visit 55 First St. in Lakeport or 4477 Moss Ave. in Clearlake, or check them out on the Web at www.lakeonestop.org.

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