Mat-Su just right for Three Bears

Jan. 30, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

WASILLA - After almost 20 years of basing its operations in Tok, the Three Bears grocery chain plans to move its corporate headquarters to the Mat-Su Valley.

The exact date will be decided after Three Bears finishes it current large project: opening a new Wasilla-style mini-warehouse in Butte, Mont.

But Three Bears CEO and founder Larry Weisz said the Valley move probably will happen in June or July of this year.

Weisz moved to Tok in November of 1980. Less than a decade later, he opened his first small grocery store, Frontier Foods.

Since then, Weisz, his kids and now his grandkids have opened and run superconvienence stores in Valdez and Seward, mini-warehouses in Kenai and the 51,000-square-foot Wasilla warehouse, opened in mid-2005.

Weisz recently decided to expand operations outside of Alaska with the opening of the Butte Three Bears.

The vast span of the Three Bear empire has made it necessary to relocate his top executives, including his son, David Weisz, Three Bears' president and COO, to be closer to an airport and to salespeople than is possible in Tok.

Three Bears, though hiring plenty of people from outside the Weisz gene pool, is very much a family business. Weisz has six kids in the business.

&#8220There were seven, but one met a nice gal and moved down to Texas,” said Weisz.

David Weisz lives in Kenai now, but will move to the Valley, as will David Weisz's son, David Weisz Jr., who recently left the Marine Corps and will move to Wasilla as a grocery buyer.

Five of Larry Weisz's 19 grandchildren also work in the Three Bears business.

Weisz said his company has yet

to decide where to place the new

headquarters.

&#8220But we prefer the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. It is centrally located,” he said.

New jobs will come with the new corporate office.

Three Bears will relocate five of its

current employees and hire about five more. The possible new hires include an office manager and some data entry positions, said Weisz.

The office will house 10 people initially, but Weisz said it will have space for more.

Pricers will work out of the new headquarters, as will buyers. The central location will allow easier access to salespeople, he said.

&#8220We kind of like to look eyeball to eyeball with someone who wants to sell us product,” he said.

Weisz won't be relocating to the Mat-Su. He still is active as chairman of the board and will be there for consulting, he said, but he is turning the day-to-day operations over to David Weisz.

&#8220I'm 66 years old now, I'm kind of backing away. You know, it's time,” Weisz said.

He'll spend more time hunting, fishing and playing golf.

&#8220Besides,” Weisz said, &#8220my house is too big. I had eight children at home and had to add on, it is too big and I don't think anybody could afford it. It has our offices attached, too.”

Some accounting and payroll positions will stay in Tok along with the elder Weisz.

Employees who have worked at Three Bears since the start will be able to remain in their home town.

Contact Russell Stigall at

352-2267 or russell.stigall@

frontiersman.com.