SEQUIM — The city of Sequim has approved site construction and building permits for a 35,577-square-foot grocery store addition to the west side of the existing 113,000-square-foot Walmart store off West Washington Street at Priest Road.
Walmart spokeswoman Tiffany Moffatt said ground will be broken on the addition next year, and the existing store will be remodeled.
Construction should take between 12 and 18 months, she said.
“We do not have a grand opening date set at this point,” Moffatt said.
It is anticipated that about 85 new associates would be hired in addition to the approximately 300 now employed at the store.
“The expanded full service store will include a full range of affordable groceries, bakery and deli items, along with general merchandise, a pharmacy and an optical center,” Moffatt said.
“The [existing] store will also feature a new layout with low-profile shelving with a brighter interior paint scheme, enhanced lighting and easy to read signage,” she said.
The city announced the decision Friday to allow Walmart representatives David Evans & Associates to build the new structure.
The expansion is the second phase in the development of the original store, which was opened in late 2004.
Originally, the addition was contemplated to be 68,260 square feet, a size later reduced to 35,577, said Joe Irvin, interim city planning director.
The building expansion complies with zoning regulations and is not in a flood zone, although it is less than one mile away from the Dungeness River.
Irvin said no additional parking would be required because parking for the original store included the future expansion.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant, which just opened a megastore with groceries east of Port Angeles off U.S. Highway 101, was hailed as a boon to Sequim’s economy in 2004, when then-Mayor Walt Schubert addressed the grand opening.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
