Fred Meyer fans in Gig Harbor, we finally have good news for you

We’ve had story after story after story about the projected opening of Gig Harbor’s new Fred Meyer.

And now, the city has some good news to share.

The final project paperwork cleared its last hurdles Friday, enabling Fred Meyer to gain access for stocking the store at Olympic Towne Center, 5118 Point Fosdick Drive NW.

“Olympic Towne Center ... is one step closer to tenancy after the City of Gig Harbor issued a temporary certificate of occupancy to the anchor tenant Fred Meyer on Friday,” the city announced.

“Olympic Towne Center provided the City with the long awaited easement, which cleared the way for this next step.”

The easement issues related to 32nd Avenue were resolved between the developer and neighboring properties.

“Fred Meyer has also completed their part of the construction of the new right turn lane at Point Fosdick and Olympic and of the re-phasing of the lights at that intersection,” according to Mayor Jill Guernsey, in the news release.

“The last piece, opening the new road at 32nd Avenue to provide an alternative entrance to the shopping center, is now complete.”

The city was ready to expedite the paperwork filing once it happened, so Fred Meyer “can start stocking immediately,” City Administrator Ron Williams told The News Tribune.

An opening date is yet to be determined.

The wait, as frustrating as it’s been for customers, has not exactly been business as usual for the retailer, either.

“This isn’t typical,” Fred Meyer communications representative Jeffery Temple said. “Usually, if we push a store opening, it’s no more than a week or two.”

On the plus side, “the existing store (in Gig Harbor) is still outperforming what we expected through this,” he said.

Fred Meyer promises the wait for the new store will be worth it.

With this new outlet, “We’re expanding our store size by almost 19,000 square feet” to around 65,000 square feet, Temple said.

The new store will include gourmet pizza, a beer and wine bar with a growler filling station, a Murray’s cheese counter and expanded natural foods.

It also will have expanded floral, produce, bakery and deli departments, as well as a pharmacy and gas station.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Fred Meyer fans in Gig Harbor, we finally have good news for you."