EDMONDS — Seattle icon Dick’s Drive-In announced Oct. 15 its northward expansion will be through the Snohomish County gateway of Edmonds.
The new drive-in will be located on Highway 99 and 220th Street Southwest. The company struck an agreement with Haggen Inc., the parent company of TOP Food &Drug, to purchase land on the northeast corner of the grocer’s parking lot. It will be the first new Dick’s Drive-In restaurant to be built in 36 years.
After a seven week search, including an online survey that crashed the restaurant’s website, Jim Spady, vice president of Dick’s Drive-Ins and son of co-founder and namesake Dick Spady, made the announcement.
The online poll pitted the North Sound against the South End and the Eastside. More than 115,000 people voted during the three weeks of voting. The north region scored highest with 53,810 votes, or 46 percent of the total votes cast.
“All of the north-end communities have been very welcoming, but we can only build one restaurant at a time,” Spady said in a press release. “The Edmonds property is an ideal location on Highway 99 with easy access from Interstate 5 via 220th Street Southwest.”
“The city of Edmonds is excited to welcome Dick’s Drive-Ins to Edmonds,” Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper said. “The Spady family’s long-standing commitment to good jobs, education, and giving back to the community is just the kind of business we work to attract in our city.”
The property purchase is contingent on the successful completion of various feasibility studies and obtaining the necessary permits from the city of Edmonds.
“Our meetings to date with Edmonds’ city officials have been very positive. If everything goes well, we should close the sale within 180 days, begin construction in the spring and open the Edmonds Dick’s in late 2011,” Spady said.
The original Dick’s Drive-In opened in 1954 on Northeast 45th Street in Wallingford. The most recent restaurant built was the Queen Anne Dick’s in 1974. The new Dick’s in Edmonds will maintain the original restaurant’s iconic 1950s look and architecture.
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