SEQUIM — Another chain store is coming to Sequim this spring.
Sherwin-Williams, the paint emporium that in the past has opened 100 stores a year across the United States, has begun construction in the River Bend shopping center at 1400 W. Washington St.
The $349,425 project is the last building to be added to the strip mall just west of Walmart, said Sequim city building official Ann Hall.
‘Great growth area’
It’ll be a 4,500-square-foot store, she added.
When asked why the company selected Sequim, Sherwin-Williams spokesman Mike Conway said this town is “a great growth area,” nationwide economic slump or not.
Sherwin-Williams has backed off its usual pace of store openings to just 50 this year, Conway added.
But “we see a great growth opportunity” on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The chain has stores in Aberdeen, Oak Harbor and Silverdale. Sequim’s will be the 43rd one in what Conway calls the “greater metropolitan Seattle area.”
Mostly contractors
Sherwin-Williams will cater mostly to contractors — they’re 85 percent of business — and to do-it-yourself home decorators, he added.
“We want to be more convenient for professional paint contractors,” Conway said.
For them, “less drive time means more efficiency,” and lower costs.
Conway couldn’t yet estimate how many people will be employed in the Sequim store but said it will have a manager, assistant manager and a couple of part- or full-time associates.
The general contractor for the project is Meridian Builders of Seattle.
Expected finish date
Meridian project manager Jeff Quick estimated that the store will be finished in April but added that winter weather may alter that.
Sequim is also expecting the opening of an International House of Pancakes in the River Bend center around March, and on the other side of town, the 77-room Holiday Inn Express and conference center at 1441 E. Washington St. has February as its targeted opening date.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.