Tag Archives: port orchard

Petco store proposed in Port Orchard

A national pet store chain has sniffed out a location in Port Orchard.

City planners are reviewing permit applications for a 11,500-square foot Petco at the southwest corner of Vallair Court and Bethel Road.

The applicant is PacLand, a development firm with offices in Seattle.

The pet store and parking lot would occupy two vacant parcels owned by Seattle-based Port Orchard Retail, LLC.

The property is located across Vallair from Taco Time (see inset image). Customers would access the store from Vallair.

The city issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for the project and will take comments on environmental concerns through Friday. The full notice is posted below.

Petco has stores in Bremerton and Poulsbo.

Port Orchard Petco Mdns by Tad Sooter

Two pot stores approved for same Port Orchard shopping center

Tad Sooter

Soon shoppers will be able to look out the window of one Port Orchard marijuana store and see another marijuana store across the parking lot.

A shop called Kitsap Cannabis was approved by the Liquor and Cannabis Board last week for a space at 1739 Village Lane SE, in the South Park Village.

It joins the descriptively named A Recreational Marijuana Store, already licensed at 1762 Village Lane SE, in the same shopping center.

Kitsap Cannabis is the seventh recreational marijuana store approved in the Port Orchard area, and the 16th in Kitsap. The state plans to license up to 20 retailers in the county.

Below is a chart showing retail marijuana sales trends: Continue reading →

Port Orchard Safeway will reopen April 27

Tad Sooter

0729_KSLO_bethel-copy Safeway is hiring 75 employees in Port Orchard as it prepares to reopen its Bethel Road store on April 27, company spokeswoman Tairsa Worman said.

The store was previously operated by Safeway but was acquired by Haggen in early 2015. Haggen declared bankruptcy last fall and closed the Port Orchard location Dec. 5. Albertsons bought the store back from Haggen and returned it to the Safeway banner.

The company is hiring full- and part-time workers for all areas of the store, including deli, meat, customer service, bakery and produce, according to a news release.

Benefits for eligible employees include health care, paid vacation and discounts at Safeway and Albertsons.

Worman said priority is being given to former employees of the store.

News of the Port Orchard store opening was welcomed by UFCW 21, which represents local grocery workers.

“We are looking forward to having this store re-open,” UFCW 21 spokesman Tom Geiger said. “Once store opens, we will get a list of employees from the employer and then come in and sign up members to make sure workers there get all the benefits of having a union grocery job.”

Safeway is holding open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday at the store, at 3355 Bethel Rd. SE. Job seekers can also apply at www.careersatsafeway.com.

Port Orchard area now has six marijuana stores

Tad Sooter

The Liquor and Cannabis Board approved two recreational marijuana stores off Mile Hill Drive this month, bringing the Port Orchard area’s total to six.

Both new retailers appear to be just outside city limits. (Click on the image at right to see all six locations.)

A store called Fillabong was approved March 10 for a space at 4978 SE Mile Hill Drive. Fillabong also had a Silverdale location licensed in February.

This week, the board approved a shop at 1762 Village Lane SE, in the South Park Village retail center. Its name: A Recreational Marijuana Store.

The addition of the Port Orchard Fillabong and A Recreational Marijuana Store raise Kitsap’s count of marijuana retailers to 13.

Four Port Orchard stores are already operating along the Bethel Road corridor (though one is currently suspended).

The state will allow a total of 20 marijuana retail outlets in Kitsap, meaning there are seven licenses still up for grabs, including five in the county at large.

About 40 applicants are vying for the remaining slots. An application period for retail licenses closes March 31.

How are Kitsap’s existing marijuana shops faring? Here’s an updated look at sales trends:

Marijuana sales trends
Create line charts

Report: Albertsons buying more Haggen stores, but not in Kitsap

Tad Sooter

Update: Haggen confirmed the deal in a news release Friday.

Albertsons is preparing to gobble up more stores from Haggen, but not the shuttered locations in Siverdale or East Bremerton.

According to reports from several news sources, the grocery giant is finalizing a deal to acquire Haggen’s remaining “core stores,” which include the original Haggen stores in Whatcom County. (The Oregonian posted a full list.)

The news was attributed to a grocery workers union and was not confirmed by Haggen, Albertsons, or the Federal Trade Commission.

The list of stores being sold does not include former Haggen locations in Silverdale or East Bremerton, which were designated as “non-core stores.”

Haggen already sold off most its non-core stores — including one in Port Orchard — during bankruptcy auctions last fall. The stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton didn’t sell. Both closed in late November and remain empty.

Haggen has not responded to my requests for information about plans for its discarded Kitsap locations.

The grocer owns the property off Wheaton Way in East Bremerton. It leased the Bucklin Hill Road space in Silverdale from a real estate investment group.

If Albertsons does buy Haggen’s core business, it will add another twist to an already improbable retail saga.

A year ago Haggen, a small, Bellingham-based chain, acquired 146 stores from Albertsons and Safeway as the mega grocers finalized a merger agreement. The FTC required the sale to prevent the combined Albertsons/Safeway chain from gaining monopolies in some markets.

Included in the divestiture were Albertsons stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton, and a Safeway in Port Orchard.

Haggen’s rapid expansion scheme proved devastating. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.

Albertsons bought back many of its old stores from Haggen last fall, including the Port Orchard location, which will reopen as a Safeway sometime this year (an opening date has not been released).

Now Albertsons is poised to absorb the remainder of Haggen’s crumbling empire.

Port launches free Wi-Fi at marinas

Tad Sooter

Boaters can now surf the web while snug in their slips at the Bremerton and Port Orchard public marinas.

The Port of Bremerton has launched a free Wi-Fi service at both Sinclair Inlet marinas, according to a Monday announcement.

“Studies have shown, and our customers have repeatedly told us that the number one utility they value bar none is connectivity,” port CEO Jim Rothlin said in the announcement. “It’s also the number one frustration they have with marinas as it can so often be weak, slow and unreliable.

The network provides a 125-megabyte-per-second access link shared by both facilities, which can be scaled up to 1 gigabyte-per-second as demand increases.

The system can accommodate up to 1,000 devices at a time. Service is provided by NW Commnet of Bremerton.

In an email, Rothlin said the agency spent about $150,000 installing a fiber optic backbone and Wi-Fi system at both marinas.

Hardware chosen for the network had to be especially rugged to survive in the corrosive marine environment.

“I would say the biggest challenges were getting coverage through all parts each marina, dealing with getting coverage within covered moorage, and keeping the connection across the two marinas as the tide goes in and out,” Rothlin said.

The full announcement, with more technical info, is posted below: Continue reading →

Gig Harbor Safeway reopens Feb. 3; no date for Port Orchard store

Tad Sooter

The Gig Harbor Safeway that became a Haggen will become a Safeway again on Feb. 3.

But Safeway spokeswoman Sara Osborne said no reopening date has been announced for the vacant Safeway-turned-Haggen in Port Orchard, also set to return to the Safeway fold.

Safeway parent company Albertsons LLC. bought back both stores from Haggen in a bankruptcy auction last fall.

Haggen stores in Silverdale and East Bremerton were not purchased during those auctions and remain empty. The Bucklin Hill Road and Wheaton Way locations were previously operated by Alberstons.

‘Marijuana Superstore’ approved on Bethel

Tad Sooter

marijuana.superstore

A “Legal Marijuana Superstore” will become Port Orchard’s fourth recreational pot outlet.

The state Liquor and Cannabis Board approved the retailer Dec. 30. The store is located at 3610 Bethel Road SE.

A representative at Legal Marijuana Superstore said the company was still completing the buildout of its space and expected to open in about a month.

Legal Marijuana Superstore joins a cluster of retailers already established along the Bethel Corridor. Greenway Marijuana, Pot Zone (formerly Crockpot) and 420 Spot Shop all operate in the area.

The new store is Kitsap’s tenth legal marijuana retailer, including a tribally-owned store that opened this winter. Another 10 producers and processors are licensed in the county. (Zoom in on the map above to see all the business locations.)

Kitsap saw its first drop in legal marijuana sales in November. The state has yet to release sales figures for December.

Image via Google

The Port Orchard Haggen is also closed

Tad Sooter

PO.haggen

Haggen has left the county.

The grocery chain’s store in the Port Orchard Bethel Junction shopping center was closed and cleaned out last week. Haggen shuttered its stores in East Bremerton and Silverdale at the end of November.

PO.haggen.2 I haven’t heard exactly when the Port Orchard location shut down. If you happen to know, please drop a comment below.

Unlike the Bremerton and Silverdale Haggens, the Port Orchard store already has a new owner in place.

Albertsons LLC. bought the location in a bankruptcy auction last month and plans to return it to the Safeway brand. A timeline for the reopening has not been announced.

The three Kitsap County stores were among 146 Haggen acquired from Albertsons and Safeway early this year, as the two mega-grocers completed a merger.

The East Bremerton and Silverdale stores were previously operated by Albertsons. The Port Orchard store was a Safeway.

Haggen’s bold expansion ultimately flopped. The company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in September and held auctions to begin selling off assets.

The Bellingham Herald reports Haggen will try to sell the remainder of its stores, including its original Whatcom County locations, at an auction scheduled for February.

Haggen was in business in Kitsap for less than 9 months:

Dragonfly Cinema seeking new owners

Tad Sooter

dragonfly If you love movies and aren’t hung up on making money, there’s an indie theater in Port Orchard that would like to meet you.

The proprietors of Dragonfly Cinema on Bay Street announced Tuesday they are seeking new owners to keep the two-screen movie house going.

“Despite our love of Port Orchard, our family may need to be a bit more mobile than we’ve been over the past few years due to some recent positive personal events,” reads a Facebook post signed by Gryphon, Sharalyn, Alexander, and Evangeline Shafer.

“So it’s with immense sadness that we announce our intention to vacate ownership of Dragonfly Cinema. That said, obviously we want to see the theater continue to operate under new ownership if possible.”

The Shafers aren’t simply tossing the business on the market. Instead, they’ll be accepting proposals from prospective owners, with the hopes of finding the best possible custodian for the downtown institution.

Proposals will be accepted through December. In an email Wednesday, Gryphon Shafer said he’d already received five submittals.

“The response so far has been better than I expected,” he said.

The Shafers offered a candid overview of their business in a FAQ accompanying the announcement. How much profit should the new owners expect to make?

“Pretty close to none,” according to the FAQ. “When we took over the cinema four and a half years ago, it was losing a lot of money. We’ve taken it to pretty close to break-even.”

Running the cinema has other rewards, the Shafers said in their announcement:

“We’ve been blessed to work with some top-shelf employees and dedicated volunteers, and we’ve been lucky to serve you, patrons who care about a great movie-going experience. And of course, our popcorn ain’t that bad.”

The Shafers revitalized the shuttered Historic Orchard Theater in 2011 and renamed it the Dragonfly. They’ll continue to operate the theater into early 2016 if no viable proposal is submitted, according to their announcement Tuesday.

You can read the full announcement and FAQ here. Dragonfly Cinema shows free movies during the Festival of Chimes and Lights, scheduled for Dec. 5 this year.