The opening for the new location of Central Co-op in Tacoma, 4502 N. Pearl St., has been pushed to mid- to late summer after a revamp of store design plans.
The opening for the new location of Central Co-op in Tacoma, 4502 N. Pearl St., has been pushed to mid- to late summer after a revamp of store design plans. Central Co-op Courtesy
The opening for the new location of Central Co-op in Tacoma, 4502 N. Pearl St., has been pushed to mid- to late summer after a revamp of store design plans. Central Co-op Courtesy

Business

Sprinklers slow progress on Tacoma’s Central Co-op construction

By Debbie Cockrell

dcockrell@thenewstribune.com

February 03, 2018 08:00 AM

About that spring opening for the Tacoma site of grocer Central Co-op’s new location on Pearl Street.

You can move that to mid- to late summer on your calendar.

The delays involve a change in design after fire department officials reviewed the site plan.

The new plan calls for overhead sprinklers instead of the originally planned firewalls, adding weeks to the project, Central Co-op CEO Garland McQueen wrote in a recent letter to members.

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“After construction starts, I expect to have a store opening in mid- to late summer,” McQueen said. “This is taking into consideration that there could be some minor unforeseen delays.”

An open house at the store site, 4502 N. Pearl St. (formerly the site of Bargain World), is planned for March 24 “to show the layout of the store and the work that has been done at that point,” according to McQueen.

It’s been a long road so far for the co-op to make its return to Tacoma.

The former Sixth Avenue storefront merged with Seattle’s Central Co-op in December 2015, and the Tacoma site closed the next year. That site is now Mary Mart.

Debbie Cockrell: 253-597-8364, @Debbie_Cockrell