Photos: New Swanson's closing in Bethel

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The new Swanson's store in Bethel is closing Friday, less than nine months after its June 30, 2014, opening, said store manager Casey Cruz. On Monday, everything in the store was half-priced and word of the deals quickly spread around Bethel and beyond.

The new Swanson's showcase grocery and department store here is closing Friday, less than nine months after it opened -- a blow to shoppers, its 80 employees and the city's tax base. Shoppers swarmed the struggling store Monday after word spread about an unadvertised half-price sale that covered its entire inventory. Store manager Casey Cruz said he was told Monday morning by the corporate office for Omni Enterprises Inc. that the store would be closing and that everything needed to go. Omni ran Swanson's and still is running other stories in rural Alaska as well as the Swanson's hardware store, lumberyard, furniture store, Quick Stop and snowmachine dealership in Bethel. The new $20 million building is owned by Bethel Native Corp., which runs the movie theater within the complex called Kipusvik, Yup'ik for "place to buy things." The movie theater will remain open, said manager Jennessy Andrew.

READ MORE: Bethel's new showcase grocery store to close Friday