After a presence of almost 90 years in Yellowstone Park, Hamilton Stores, Inc., of Bozeman will be replaced as the general concessioner in 2003.
Hamilton Stores has operated general stores, gift shops, photo processing and food services in Yellowstone since 1915.
Delaware North Parks Service of Buffalo, N.Y., will replace Hamilton Stores starting Jan. 1, 2003.
Hamilton Stores provided service to Yellowstone "even before establishment of the Park Service," according to park spokesman Cheryl Matthews.
"They've been an excellent concessioner," she said.
Hamilton Stores officials declined to discuss financial details of the offers.
The selection process for the new contract began in October 2000 when the NPS issued a prospectus seeking offers under a controversial concessions management law.
Hamilton Stores, Amfac, the National Parks Hospitality Association and others sued the Park Service about the law, maintaining the new rules were unfair.
Last spring a federal judge ruled in favor of the Park Service, and the companies appealed the decision. No decision has been rendered on the appeal.
Hamilton Stores Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Lynn Alpers on Friday declined comment on the Yellowstone contract. Company president Terry Povah was unavailable, Alpers said.
The 1998 Park Service Concessions Management Improvement Act was designed to bring more competition to the concessions contracting process, according to Judy Jennings of the Park Service's Intermountain Region office in Denver.
Hamilton Stores owners Eleanor Povah and her family, who have other family businesses in the greater Yellowstone area, will continue doing business in Yellowstone through Dec. 31, 2002.
Charles Hamilton began operating in the park in 1915. Povah and her late husband Trevor continued the operation. Their son Terry Povah is now company president.
Acting Yellowstone Superintendent Frank Walker cited the "significant contribution the Povah family has made to the visitor experience in Yellowstone."
Delaware North Parks Service, Hamilton stores and Amfac Resorts, LLC, all made offers for the business, which employs about 800 people during the peak season and grosses an average of $22 million annually.
A panel of concessions management technical experts evaluated the offers, and Delaware North was selected.
"Delaware North has demonstrated a firm commitment to the Park Service and its mission through strong environmental, interpretive, resource management and education programs in its current operations in Yosemite, Sequoia and Grand Canyon parks and the Oregon Caves National Monument," Karen Wade, Park Service Intermountain Regional Director, said.
