Report to the Community
COMMUNITY NEEDS MET AND EXCEEDED WITH TAHOMA BRAND
The Puyallup Tribe’s economic development arm, Marine View Ventures, opened the Tahoma Market in Fife in 2011 to provide a place local residents can buy fresh produce, boutique grocery items and utilize one-stop convenience complete with gas pumps, car washing facilities and everyday items.
Its opening marked the first grocery store to open in Fife in more than 10 years. The 12,000-square-foot marketplace has proven more successful than forecasted.
“It is breaking sales records each month,” Marine View CEO Chad Wright said.
The Tahoma Market created 40 jobs.
The marketplace has proven to be so successful and well received by customers that the Tribe’s four other gas stations and convenience stores are going to be rebranded and renovated into Tahoma Express stations. The change will not only update the stores but also allow the facilities to cross promote and market under one brand.
The permitting process for what will be a shipping terminal on land leased from the Tribe will be completed later this year, with construction of the first phase set to start soon after. Having the permits in hand is a significant milestone in the ongoing redevelopment of the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula. The terminal will be managed by Seattle-based SSA Marine, the largest terminal operator in the world. Operations at the terminal could begin as early as 2014, depending on the size of the first phase of construction, and create several hundred associated jobs.