Extreme Retail Makeover

If you were paying attention, you could’ve gauged the economy’s downward slide by watching stores on South Hill close. By February, a walk through South Hill Mall was depressing with so many favorite longtime stores dark. While shopping at Waldenbooks’ closeout sale, I overheard a teenager anxiously ask her dad, “Target couldn’t go out of business could it?”

I’m not an economist, but I’m hopeful that we’ve already hit the bottom. Let’s remember that while a lot of us have lost jobs, a large majority haven’t. Maybe if the people who still have jobs spend some money, it will speed up the economic recovery. We’ve got a lot of prime retail space available on South Hill and in downtown Puyallup. To get things rolling again, here are some stores I’d love to shop in without having to drive somewhere else.

Number one on my wish list is Trader Joe’s. Every time I visit the stores in University Place and Federal Way, I ask when they’re coming to Puyallup. I think our demographics are as good or better than UP and Federal Way. The combined median household income of Puyallup and South Hill in 2007 was $65,000. An estimated 71,500 people live in the Puyallup/South Hill area (sometimes I swear we’re all on Meridian at the same time). That’s a lot of potential customers. Now that Callaway Fitness (in the “old Safeway building”) is shut down, Trader Joe’s would fit in nicely there, or maybe further south in Sunrise Village.

Coldwater Creek, Chico’s and Lush would be perfect in Sunrise Village as would Barnes & Noble. How about a specialty type restaurant that serves crepes, fondue, or soup and sandwiches? A frozen yogurt place would be a pleasant stop for a quick snack while shopping. An upscale restaurant that frames a view of Mt. Rainier seems like a guaranteed success.

Onto South Hill Mall -- Kohl’s, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn or Williams Sonoma could move into the Circuit City/Linens and Things space. A Made in Washington store and The Museum store are also good candidates for our mall.

It would make sense to have REI here since we’re the gateway to Mt. Rainier. Could it replace the going, going, gone GI Joe’s? World Market could fill the Good Guy’s former space.

For the kids, a toy store along the lines of Teaching Toys in Proctor would be great in downtown Puyallup. Somewhere on South Hill there should be room for an Odyssey Family Fun Play Center so the kids can have fun on rainy days.

Hancock Fabrics would also be a good fit in downtown Puyallup. A yarn store would be a nice addition as well. And wouldn’t it be great if there was a permanent, drive-thru Fisher Scone bakery near the fairgrounds and on the hill for year-round scones?

That sums up my economic recovery plan (or retail wish list) for Puyallup. Hope someone takes me up on it!

Laura Keolanui Stark is a freelance writer who lives on South Hill. Reach her at lkstark@yahoo.com. (Originally published in The Herald, www.puyallupherald.com on 4/22/09.)