December 22, 2009
8 Comments
Rumors Spread on Big Lots, QFC Spaces
What's Next at Fairwood Shopping Center?
Big Lots is closing its doors as soon as its inventory is reduced to very low levels and its corporate offices say "close." What's next?
Just over a year ago, Fairwood's QFC Grocery store closed its doors in the Fairwood Shopping Center. This year, next door neighbor store Big Lots is liquidating its stock for its inevitable closure in the near future.
What's in store for the Fairwood Shopping Center? What we found were a few answers to your questions. We also must say that there are still more questions.
Leases Lost
Reliable sources have confirmed that both QFC and Big Lots were not provided options to renew their leases. In a very real sense, they were given the 'ole "heave-ho" by the owners. Since the two stores are adjacent spaces, it appears that some type of combined project has been in the works for over a year.
One Big Lots source said that the company does not operate with a typical renewal contract, so Fairwood Shopping Center has great flexibility in canceling its contract, just as Big Lots has that option.
On the other hand, another reliable source on the other side of the issue disputes the forced closure of Big Lots, which finally closed its doors on January 9. "Big Lots could have exercised their option to extend their lease, but they chose not to," said the source.
What's Next?
Rumors include possible tenants such as a larger box store, a subdivided mini-mall concept, a large sports club and even a strip club. While we cannot confirm some of the rumors, we can eliminate a few of the options that are not being considered.
Walmart?
Negative to that rumor.
Karianne Fallow, corporate spokesperson at Walmart, confirmed that the rumor is just that. "We don't have any plans," said Fallow. With Walmart stores in Covington and Renton a Fairwood location wouldn't make sense. Further, Walmart stores require more parking and are typically placed as a stand-alone store.
Strip Club?
Negative to that rumor.
Fairwood Shopping Center/TerraMar Leasing Agent Dan Engelhard was quick to confirm that a local strip club in Fairwood Shopping Center is not under consideration.
"We're fully committed to keeping this a first-class shopping center. I can assure you that the new tenant is not a low-class business." said Engelhard. "No strip club will be in this shopping center."
ACE Hardware Leaving?
Negative to that rumor.
ACE Hardware staff confirmed that ACE has no plans to move and has a secured lease that is for the next five years, which extends into 2014. They also added that the Big Lots space cannot be demolished because the wall between Big Lots and ACE is not a load-bearing wall. If the Big Lots space were leveled, it would in essence, destroy the ACE Hardware space.
Trader Joe's?
Negative to that rumor.
Engelhard said that many strip malls across the nation are requesting Trader Joe's stores to fill their spaces. They are one of the most sought-after chains, and unfortunately, the Fairwood area demographics are lower than the current requirements of the company.
We questioned this business model because Trader Joe's are currently in similar or lower-level neighborhoods such as Burien. Engelhard responded that the Burien store was opened before Trader Joe's became the big boutique-type company it is today.
LA Fitness
We can't confirm.
We have made several calls into LA Fitness and TerraMar corporate offices and have not received a response. We called nearby LA Fitness in Covington and they have heard nothing from corporate. "We're often the last ones to find out about new stores opening because corporate likes to surprise everyone," said a staff member at the Covington LA Fitness.
Engelhard would neither confirm or deny this rumor.
Final Notes
What we did find out is that "something" is in the works. "A lot of stuff can happen between now and finalizing details, but we hope to let you know the first part of next year," said Engelhard.
What do you think?
We want to hear from you! What do you think will fill the space? What would you scenarios would you like to see? What scenarios would be realistic, given the demographics of the Fairwood area? We can't wait to post your responses.
Be sure to check back with us - we'll provide updates as soon as we can confirm them.
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What do you think about the current status of Fairwood Shopping Center? What do you think will fill the QFC/Big Lots Spaces?
Share your thoughts below.
Responses to
"Fairwood Shopping Center Update"
March 3, 2010 - 10:32 am
MaryEllen Bolden said: Does anyone have any news ? We lost Bally's and we finally rode out that horrible contract. (they refuse to cancel our memberships because they have clubs in Kent and Bellevue we could use !)... would love to see another fitness club come in....
February 15, 2010 - 8:37 pm
Cyndi said: It would be great if we had a community center. Something like a YMCA/YWCA or a senior center. If not a community center, a store like trader Joes or a Natural Market with healthy food choices for people with special dietary needs. We have to travel to Kent, Burien, Federal Way, Renton and Bellevue to find such specialty foods.
Had our community become a city, we could have used the space for City Hall and Community Center. I really looked forward to a community that would celebrate together, work together, and support each other.
February 15, 2010 - 1:20 pm
Anonymous said: Does anyone have updates on when Snap Fitness is supposed to be opening their facility in Fairwood? The only information on their website is still "coming soon" with nothing new.
February 13, 2010 - 5:53 pm
Mark Churchardt said: Any News on whats going in at Big Lots? Hollywood Video? or the Money Tree? I'm glad we didn't become a city! We'd be broke before we started! (even though I voted to become a city) lol Thanks!
January 30, 2010 - 4:28 pm
Resident said: I would love to see la fitness. home depot, or target. costco? Anything, our town needs a face lift. It used to be such a great place to live and now we've been looking towards covington, there's not much here.
January 17, 2010 - 9:07 pm
Anonymous said: Trader Joes....give me a break that we don't have good enough demographics. There is one in Burien and Federal Way, for goodness sakes. If no Trader Joes, then LA Fitness would be awesome.
January 6, 2010 - 12:42 pm
Sandman said: Snap Fitness is a franchise-based operation and they don't require the space that either the old QFC and/or Big Lots spaces would provide. Perhaps their website is referring to the space next to the Sherriff's office in the Albertson's shopping center. That's been vacant for a long time.
Would sure like to see LA Fitness or 24-Hour Fitness in the available space at Fairwood Shopping Center.
When will the announcement be made?
December 23 - 7:57 pm
Fairwood said: It looks like Snap Fitness is moving into at least one of the spaces. Check out their site, Snapfitness.com, and go to locations. They have one planned for 140th and Petrovitsky. From looking at their website, I would be surprised if they took over both spots.
Thanks for the tip! We will confirm the exact location and size as soon as we can. Watch for updates soon! - Ed.