Lakewood grocery store no more. Recent plans show fulfillment center still in works
Plans to redevelop a familiar Lakewood property into a fulfillment center have apparently claimed another business.
Grocery Outlet, 11011 Pacific Highway SW, has closed. The site adjoins the former Tacoma Discount World, 11013 Pacific Highway SW, which is also closed.
The owner is an LLC representing Sterling Consumer Logistics Properties, a real estate fund managed by the Sterling Organization, based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The LLC purchased the property last May for $17.7 million.
In January, The News Tribune wrote about Sterling’s plans that were set to bring an end to Tacoma Discount World and its collection of onsite vendors, possibly by the end of April.
Grocery Outlet’s local representatives in January deferred to the grocer’s corporate media team for questions over whether it would stay open, and no information was immediately forthcoming at that time.
In May, the store took to Facebook to announce it was closing.
“The good news is we have three stores nearby in Tacoma to serve you!” the post read.
The Tacoma stores are at 3510 S. 56th St. (about 4 miles away), 1410 E. 72nd St. (about six miles away), and 6425 Sixth Ave. (about 10 miles away). A new Grocery Outlet opened in April in Federal Way’s Dash Point Village center.
The Lakewood O’Reilly Auto Parts store, 10901 Pacific Highway SW., is next to the Grocery Outlet/Tacoma Discount World property, with Sterling as the property’s landlord. Sterling’s marketing for the site describes the auto parts store as a “freestanding, separately-parceled” tenant.
Plans filed with Lakewood tied to that address and parcel note, “Project will adaptively reuse ‘Tacoma Discount World’ structure and associated parking and loading areas as Neighborhood Fulfillment Center with various associated design and planting improvements.”
Becky Newton is economic development manager for the City of Lakewood.
Newton told The News Tribune this week in response to questions via email, “We anticipate an application coming forward from the ownership to re-purpose the Tacoma Discount World property within the next two months.”
An an e-commerce fulfillment center is still planned, she wrote.
Representatives for Sterling and Grocery Outlet did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
