By CONSTANCE SOMMER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The Bon Marche -- the only downtown store where you can buy a bed, blouse and blender under one roof -- wants to restore its landmark store at Fourth Avenue and Pine Street to the glory of a company flagship.

Earlier this month, The Bon's new chairman, Dan Edelman, said he's trying to land funding for a multimillion-dollar renovation.

But Edelman wants more than an expensive makeover.

In a July address to employees, he said it was time to turn the downtown location into more than just another department store in the Northwest chain of more than 40 stores in the Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Spokane areas, as well as in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming.

"Over the years, as the viability of downtown Seattle has ebbed and flowed, we have treated our downtown store as another branch store, and I think that was appropriate given the economic climate of the city," Edelman said.

"Now, however, downtown Seattle is experiencing a renaissance that is unparalleled by any major metropolitan city in the United States," he said. "As we close out this century, our downtown Seattle store will recapture the distinctive flavor of a true flagship experience."

At the same meeting, Jerri Reid, The Bon's regional vice president and store manager, acknowledged that the store's strategy was based in part on the opening of the new Nordstrom two blocks east.

"But beyond that, it is the right time in the cycle of downtown," she said.

This is what The Bon hopes to do:

• Move the entire men's apparel and shoe department to the basement, or Metro, level and expand it by 30 percent.

• Expand women's shoes to 2-1/2 times its present size, on the main level.

• Expand the accessory and cosmetics departments, also on the main level, by about 50 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

• Introduce what's tentatively being called an "active department" -- geared toward athletic and leisure wear for men, women and children. The 10,000-square-foot department will be on the fourth floor.

The downtown Bon is already bustling with a number of smaller improvements. It recently spent $1 million to clean the store's facade and install brighter lights and more chandeliers on the main floor. It also added a chef's station in the sixth-floor gourmet shop, where shoppers can sample just-cooked dishes made with products sold in the store.

The Bon also plans to open a mammography and bone-density clinic on the third floor next spring, and possibly, at some later time, a full-service day spa.

The key to the renovation will be getting the go-ahead from parent company Federated Department Stores Inc., the Ohio-based retail giant that also owns Macy's, Bloomingdale's and numerous other chains.

Today, if there's one trait that differentiates The Bon Marche from other downtown merchants, it's this: in short, it's the only true department store left downtown, and whatever else changes, Bon executives say that will remain the same.

"One of the advantages we have is real range," Edelman said. "Flexibility is one of our great strengths. We want to be the family store."