New Fred Meyer planned in Centralia, WA

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Re: New Fred Meyer planned in Centralia, WA

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: December 24th, 2018, 8:02 am
storewanderer wrote: December 23rd, 2018, 11:07 pm This is frustrating as they open so few new stores...

I seem to recall they had another site up near the border that also fell through after a couple years of "negotiations."
It's not just Fred Meyer. Kelso was at one point poised to get a new development near exit 36 with several new stores, reportedly a Costco and Kohl's were two of the major stores. Traffic signals were actually installed (but never turned on, and the signal heads have since been removed but the poles remain) in preparation for the new development along with a road extension, but the lengthy permitting process killed the project. The land has been vacant for years.
This is true, but a majority of proposed Kohls and Costco new stores actually get opened. They do have some that are proposed then never open... but with Fred Meyer it seems the majority of the few new stores that they even propose, do not ever actually open for one reason or another. Often times, these factors that cause a new store to not ever open are out of the company's control but it is just a general observation.
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Re: New Fred Meyer planned in Centralia, WA

Post by Brian Lutz »

A number of years ago there was a Costco proposed in Redmond WA that eventually got cancelled when the 2008 economic downturn happened, but the project was revived several years later, and the store was eventually built and opened in 2015. Lately there's been talk (mostly rumors) of a Costco opening along Highway 9 in Lake Stevens, although nothing tangible has come out of it yet. On one hand I could see this being a good location since they could attract people looking to avoid RTA tax rates on purchases, but I also wonder how necessary it would be since there's already a Costco on Highway 9 in Woodinville, not to mention locations in Everett/Silver Lake and Marysville/Smokey Point.
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Re: New Fred Meyer planned in Centralia, WA

Post by SamSpade »

Brian Lutz wrote: December 26th, 2018, 8:27 am not to mention locations in Everett/Silver Lake and Marysville/Smokey Point.
... and Marysville is also beyond the Sound Transit RTA boundary.


I was curious so I went and looked up what RTA tax meant. In Washington State, this is a regional transit authority taxation.
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Re: New Fred Meyer planned in Centralia, WA

Post by Brian Lutz »

The effects of the RTA tax vary, but in general it does add a significant amount to sales tax for people who live within the boundaries (as well as much higher car tab fees.) That said, there's no sales tax on groceries in Washington, so it wouldn't affect grocery shopping much anyway. As for the Costco in Smokey Point, it's probably just a little too far away to be worth a trip for most people (being about 10 miles away from Downtown Everett on a part of I-5 notorious for frequent traffic backups.) The proposed location for a Costco in Lake Stevens would be around 4 miles away in an area with much less traffic to wade through. Not to mention that a Costco in Lake Stevens would serve a fast growing area of Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Monroe and surrounding areas.
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Re: New Fred Meyer planned in Centralia, WA

Post by Super S »

Brian Lutz wrote: December 26th, 2018, 1:49 pm The effects of the RTA tax vary, but in general it does add a significant amount to sales tax for people who live within the boundaries (as well as much higher car tab fees.) That said, there's no sales tax on groceries in Washington, so it wouldn't affect grocery shopping much anyway. As for the Costco in Smokey Point, it's probably just a little too far away to be worth a trip for most people (being about 10 miles away from Downtown Everett on a part of I-5 notorious for frequent traffic backups.) The proposed location for a Costco in Lake Stevens would be around 4 miles away in an area with much less traffic to wade through. Not to mention that a Costco in Lake Stevens would serve a fast growing area of Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Monroe and surrounding areas.
Given the fact that Vancouver now has two Costcos, sales tax doesn't appear to be a factor like it once was. Although sales tax has kept most electronics retailers on the Oregon side, with the exception of Best Buy (which did open two stores but also has stores right across the Oregon border and closed both Vancouver locations quickly) A lot of people moving to the area from states such as California are used to paying sales tax.

As for Lewis County though, it has one of the lower sales tax rates along I-5, which is often mentioned in the advertising for the Centralia-Chehalis car dealerships. Sales tax would not be a factor in Fred Meyer not opening, as the store tends to serve a more localized base (and a big part of their sales is food)
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