September 20, 2010 in News, Business, Voices

Yoke’s closing Spokane Valley food mart

Lease expires the end of this year

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Spokane Valley food retailer Yoke’s Fresh Market plans to close its supermarket at Sprague and Progress because it’s been unable to renew the property lease.

In an announcement Monday, company CEO John Bole said no exact closing date has been determined.

Yoke’s has operated the store since 1985, at 15111 E. Sprague.

Bole said Yoke’s will keep the store open to sell down inventory and make an easier transition of staff and equipment to its other Spokane stores.

The current property lease is set to expire Dec. 31.

Nine comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  spokanecougar on September 20 at 1:57 p.m.

  Nice, more empty buildings in the disgusting Spokane Valley.

• 

  zelda on September 20 at 2:11 p.m.

  Another retail sinkhole. Maybe Spokane Valley can re-brand itself as Craters of the Moon Regional Monument.

  But seriously, Spokane Valley has been over-stored on grocery outlets for some time. Consolidation was inevitable, esp. in hard times. I hope the employees can be placed at other Yoke’s stores.

• 

  westerly on September 20 at 3:48 p.m.

  Remember when Spokane Valley formed a city? Grand visions of parkways, fountains, brick line streets,a downtown, office buidings lining Sprague, condos, apt’s, worker bees living on Sprague and walking to work….past city councils were really gullible..they beleved everything these salesman told them..and it cost hundreds of thousands to do this grand study of what Spokane Valley will look like in 10 years…ha…. still looks like ‘Dishman’ from the 50’s and 60’s.They barely have enough to pay their wages and maybe plow some snow…but constant re- hashing their damn city sub area codes and code laws..one long strip street from Havana to liberty Lake…..alot like Auroa in Seattle…and no identity.

• 

  zelda on September 20 at 4:07 p.m.

  Let’s not mince words — the Sprague corridor in Spokane Valley is an eyesore. The incorporation was 100% amorphous vision and 0% operational competency. That was evident even before the recession hit.

• 

  misjustice on September 20 at 4:14 p.m.

  No, westerly, there is an identity;it’s the Valley, said with emphasis on the first syllable and a slight hint of contempt. You’re correct, the City of Spokane Valley is, sadly, one long strip mall; a testament to the ugly side of urban sprawl, lacking any resemblance to a city or a town.

• 

  spokanecougar on September 20 at 4:35 p.m.

  Also westerly, there are some worker bee’s living and “walking” to work on Sprague, just probably not the ones the city wants.

• 

  de3 on September 20 at 7:18 p.m.

  Unable to renew their lease? Something’s missing here. I’m sure there are tons of other businesses just angling to lease at a higher rate along Sprague …

  Seriously, that claim doesn’t make sense. With a 23.3% retail vacancy rate, there’s plenty of vacant store fronts available.

• 

  zelda on September 20 at 7:50 p.m.

  “Unable,” i.e., didn’t have the money to pay for it, I’m thinking.

  There won’t be much left of that retail center once Yoke’s goes. The old K-Mart is now an evangelical storefront church and the liquor store moved to be closer to WalMart. the old Albertson’s at Pines and Sprague is still vacant. These are large-footprint buildings.

  Maybe the owners of these empty buildings along Sprague are going to have to accept something like what Detroit is doing — demolishing vacant buildings. New businesses are not going to fill the voide anytime soon and I would guess that many of the buildings are fully depreciated. As time goes on it does not make economic sense to provide full city services to blocks that have only one retailer, probably a pawn shop. In fact, vacant buildings are crime magnets and gobble up a disproportionate share of city resources.

• 

  Mr_Bloggy on September 20 at 9:59 p.m.

  No, Sprague isn’t that much like Aurora in Seattle, that would be Spokane’s Division st.

  OMG. Things change! I am shocked. Shocked because things.change. How can this be? Things can’t change!