When Lauren Bivens moved his Harbor Marine business to new digs on the Everett waterfront this year, he left room for a grocery store in the new location.
He certainly had the room: The new building is 24,000 square feet. And he had the location: W. Marine View Drive and 10th street, right ne
ar the popular boat launch in Everett.
Bivens thought he’d be leasing the space to somebody who knew something about grocery stores, but it didn’t happen. “I talked to a lot of people and nobody seemed to want to venture into it,” he said, adding the poor economy had a lot to do with it.
So he started his own small store — Stow Away Grocery — to provide beer, wine, sodas, coffee, chips, candy and other snacks. He also has ice cream cones from the Whidbey Island Ice Cream Co.
“It has all the normal stuff you’d find at a grab-and-go-type deal,” Bivens said.
He has added five extra employees to handle the store. It’s open seven days a week starting at 4 a.m. It stays open until 7 p.m. on weekdays and until 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
The grocery store has been open a couple weeks and business is building, but Bivens said most people don’t know it’s there. But that will change.
For the last couple of years, adding a grocery store has been high on the want list of boaters surveyed by the Port of Everett. The port is in the middle of developing a waterfront plan for the area, and commissioners have mentioned that a grocery store should be part of that.
Bivens said he’s already started his own informal survey of customers, learning they want him to add more than just snack food.
“We have plans to put in a full service kitchen for the breakfast and lunch crowd,” Bivens said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
