Articles by Robin Wojtanik
Bath & Body Works store to open in Richland next year
Construction is underway on the Tri-Cities’ second Bath & Body Works store, planned for the Queensgate area of Richland. The company’s corporate office said the store is scheduled to open in early 2019 at 2471 Queensgate Drive, Suite A7. The developer of the Vintner Square property, Bowman Development Co., narrowed the store’s opening date to…
Retail outlook strong for holiday season
Tri-City retailers are optimistic about the upcoming holiday shopping season. “Our market usually outperforms the national trend due to our strong local economy,” said Barbara Johnson, general manager of Columbia Center mall in Kennewick. “It’s always kind of like looking into a crystal ball. I’m expecting consumer spending locally to be up 4.5 percent over…
Kennewick hardware store changing gears after 100 years
The owner of a 100-year-old retail mainstay in downtown Kennewick is winding down operations. “Age and time and generations running out; the business is healthy, happy and doing great, but it’s just time for us to change course,” said John Gravenslund, owner and general manager of True Value Washington Furniture and Hardware. After three generations…
New $3.4M union hall under construction in Kennewick
An expansion plan approved nearly 20 years ago is underway for the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. IBEW Local 112 is building a new $3.4 million union hall that includes an auditorium on vacant land at 114 N. Edison St. in Kennewick, just south of West Clearwater Avenue and east of…
Regional Mediterranean restaurants coming soon to the Tri-Cities
The Tri-Cities soon will be welcoming two new Mediterranean restaurants known for their chicken kabobs, gyro sandwiches and shawarma plates. The Kabob House will open in Richland’s Vintner Square at 2762 Duportail St. at the end of November and in Pasco’s Sandifur Crossing at 5802 Road 68 in early spring. The Richland restaurant will be…
Market Overview: Tri-Cities boasts stable economy
More than 1,000 new homes have been built in the Tri-Cities since the start of 2018, but this is barely sustaining an appetite for housing in a market where supply can’t keep up with demand. “We are still in a very hot sellers’ market,” said Lola Franklin, chief executive officer of the Tri-City Association of…
City of Richland: big projects underway in central district
The opening of the Queensgate Drive roundabouts allowed Richland to wrap up one of its major capital projects in 2018, while shifting focus for the next six months on building its new City Hall. The central district is a part of town receiving more attention from the city after a surge of growth in south…
City of West Richland: ‘bedroom community’ expands west
At 15,320 citizens strong, West Richland is looking to its undeveloped western end of town as the focus for future growth. “The center of town is pretty much built out,” said Aaron Lambert, West Richland’s community development director. What feels like the center of town for West Richland tends to be the area near Yoke’s…
Dozens of Tri-City subcontractors still left without paycheck
Contractors who once did business with Vandervert Construction Inc. are separating themselves into two groups: lucky or unlucky. “We are one of the lucky ones,” said Mary Rosen, controller for Richland-based Garrett Electric Company Inc. The lucky ones are those who got paid most or all of what they were owed for doing work for…
Sale to close soon on former aquatics center land in Pasco
Pasco is ready to offload nearly seven acres of land on the western side of the city once intended for a regional aquatics center. Pasco’s Deputy City Manager Stan Strebel said the 6.7-acre property is under contract with Moore Holdings at $5 a square foot, for a total purchase price of $1.5 million. Pasco originally…
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