Market will go in at former K-Mart site

Published 12:34 pm Thursday, February 21, 2008

EDMONDS — Aisles stocked with exotic produce, fresh seafood and grocery items with an international flavor will fill much of the former Edmonds K-Mart building by next spring.

After making renovations to the space, 99 Ranch Market hopes to open its 22nd store at 22511 Highway 99 S. The market chain’s parent company, Tawa Supermarkets Inc., confirmed last week that it has leased the 77,000 square feet left empty by K-Mart’s departure in June.

Well-known in Southern California, 99 Ranch Markets feature Asian specialties, including hard-to-find produce, fresh fish and grocery items from the other side of the Pacific.

The deal with the grocery chain makes the Edmonds property, owned by Bellevue’s Nat Franklin, the first of the closed K-Mart locations in the region to gain a tenant.

“He was fortunate to have a prospect right off the bat,” said Mark Pass, an associate broker with Seattle Pacific Realty Inc.

Franklin couldn’t be reached for comment or more details about the lease deal.

Alan Lee of Tawa, which is based in Buena Park, Calif., said the Asian supermarket will use about 55,000 square feet and lease the remaining space to other businesses, such as restaurants and small retailers. The store, which could open in March, will be among the largest in the chain. The first one opened three years ago in Kent.

“Highway 99 is a busy street, and it’s pretty close to I-5 there,” he said.

Kmart shut 283 locations across the nation earlier this year as part of a plan to help it emerge from bankruptcy. In addition to the Edmonds and Bellevue locations owned by Franklin, the retailer closed stores in Renton and Port Orchard.

Pass fielded leasing inquiries about the former Kmart buildings in Edmonds and Bellevue before Franklin retained control earlier this summer. He said several large retail companies showed interest, along with churches, and people who proposed more offbeat uses for the space, such as a go-kart track.

But finding a potential tenant who was ready to commit to a lease was not as easy, Pass said.

“It’s difficult to find businesses for large spaces,” he said. “It’s certainly not as easy as it was a year or two ago.”

Eric Fetters is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.