Second Retailer Opens At Sullivan Park Center
Sullivan Park Center, Hanson Industries’ retail village just east of the Spokane Valley Mall, is beginning to take shape.
On Monday, Gart Sports, the Denver-based sporting goods retailer, opens at Sullivan Park Center. The new 35,000-square foot sporting goods store is next-door to Circuit City, the 28,000-square foot electronics store that opened at the end of October.
To date, Gart Sports and Circuit City are the only tenants at Sullivan Park Center.
However, Hanson Industries has been negotiating with several other would-be tenants. Among them are Barnes and Noble, the book chain; Staples, the office-supply retailer, and Red Robin, the restaurant chain.
Raymond Hanson, head of Hanson Industries, in 1990 sold 80 acres to Price Development Co., upon which Price subsidiary JP Realty built the Valley Mall.
Hanson still owns land adjacent to the mall, where he is developing Sullivan Park Center, planned as a 110-acre mix of retail and industrial uses.
Circuit City, the Richmond, Va.-based electronics “superstore” that has approximately 60 employees was next, followed by the soon-to-be-open Gart Sports.
Gart Sports is a full-line sporting goods store, selling athletic equipment ranging from running shoes to skis and hunting gear.
The Valley store, which has 60 employees, is Gart’s second in Spokane. The first opened last month on the North Side.
Bryce Hammon, manager of the Valley Gart store, said he is pleased with the recent developments at Sullivan Park Center.
“We like it a lot,” he said, adding that plans for a Staples and a Barnes and Nobles to the east of their store is encouraging news.
“Basically it will increase the traffic flow to our business,” he said. Circuit City manager Chris Campbell agreed.
“Anything to bring in more people is great,” he said.
Talks are continuing with Staples, Barnes and Noble and Red Robin, Hanson said, but no leases have been signed.
Barnes and Nobles officials would not say if the New York-based company has plans for Spokane.
The company, which has more than 1,000 stores nationwide, does not talk about store locations until a lease is signed, said company spokesperson Jennifer Wolfertz.
NorthTown Mall officials, in announcing a $54 million expansion last week, said they also are talking to Barnes and Nobles.
Red Robin, the Denver-based restaurant chain, announced this summer that the Sullivan Park Center is one of three sites it is considering in the Spokane area. Hanson said his company is negotiating with Red Robin over the specific site for a restaurant within the retail village.
Mike Synder, CEO of Red Robin, said no lease has been signed but that the company is still looking at the Spokane area.
The hamburger chain was founded in Seattle in 1969, and now has more than 137 restaurants in the U.S., mostly in the Western states.
, DataTimes