16 |MARCH <strong>2015</strong> WWW.KPBJ.COM BUSINESS OPENINGS Rural lifestyle retailer opening Port Orchard store at vacant site By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor For the second time in the last few months, a national company has announced plans to expand into Kitsap County and will move into a large commercial space that’s been sitting empty. Tractor Supply Co., which bills itself as “the largest rural lifestyle retail store chain in the United States,” will open a store in May at the former site of Saar’s Market Place in Port Orchard. A temporary sign along Mile Hill Drive in Port Orchard notifies passersby of the Tractor Supply Co. store that will be opening in May. The store will go in the vacant shopping center at the corner of Mill Hill Drive and Olney Avenue where Saar’s Market Place was until its closure last year. TIM KELLY PHOTO Based in Brentwood, Tenn., Tractor Supply has 1,400 stores, including one in Puyallup. All stores are company-owned, not franchises. “As a growth-minded company, Tractor Supply Co. is always looking for potential new store locations that are a good fit as far as the target market is concerned,” company spokesman Rob Hoskins said in an email to the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal. “Concerning the location in Port Orchard, this is especially true in that the area was attractive due to the part-time and hobby farmers, and horse owners in the area.” The stores carry lawn and garden supplies, animal care products, workwear, power tools, riding lawnmowers and equipment such as welders and generators. Hoskins said the Port Orchard store will have 12 to 17 employees, and a “soft opening” is tentatively scheduled for May 9, with a grand opening a week later. The 42,000 square-foot building has been empty since Saar’s closed last May. It is located at the corner of Mile Hill Drive and Olney Avenue, in a mostly empty shopping center that also includes a long-vacant former Kmart store. In Bremerton, a new tenant is moving in this spring to part of the empty big-box site on Wheaton Way. Fitness Evolution announced in December that it will renovate the building once occupied by an Albertson’s store for a new 23,000-square-foot fitness center. Saar’s still owns the former grocery store building that Tractor Supply is leasing in Port Orchard, but the rest of that center is owned by a California-based management company that said it has no prospective tenants at this time. WWW.KPBJ.COM Check it out! Visit Kitsap Peninsula annual meeting will review tourism growth, outlook Visit Kitsap Peninsula will host its annual meeting on Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 12, at the Best Western Plus Silverdale Beach Hotel. The event will present “The Route to Success & Opportunities” and review record economic growth in Kitsap’s tourism sector, major construction projects, trends, and opportunities to collaborate with regional partners in Olympia and Pierce and Mason counties. VKP will also unveil its new website. The Silverdale Chamber of Commerce and Central Kitsap Community Council’s Economic Development/Tourism Committee will join the VKP to welcome the newest Kitsap County commissioner, Ed Wolfe, who represents Central Kitsap District 3. Wolfe will share his vision for the county and its tourism industry. Due to the significant increase in tourism-related construction and major events in the past several years, the VKP invited Commissioner Charlotte Garrido to share details about Kitsap County’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan. Staff at the Department of Community Development (DCD) is taking a pro-active approach and actively reaching out to the community and industry leaders to solicit input that will shape the region for the next 20 years. The previous Kitsap County comp plan has few references to Kitsap’s tourism industry and this is a historic opportunity for tourism stakeholders to provide input. The comp plan update will impact Kitsap’s tourism industry today and in the future. DCD has been working with stakeholders for the past year and is in the process of integrating Kitsap’s first agri-tourism program and policies into the county’s comprehensive plan. Other activities at the annual meeting include a mini-business expo that will feature displays and information about Kitsap’s event venues and services. Representatives from Kitsap County Public Works will also be on hand to share information about the Bucklin Hill Bridge Project. Tickets for the buffet luncheon are $20 and may be purchased online at www.VisitKitsap.com/AnnualMeeting.
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