It’s been more than six years since Mieko’s Fitness closed its Magnolia location, and five years since the chain itself was sold.
The empty storefront has remained vacant ever since.
Not for much longer.
According to a spokesperson for the national drugstore giant, a new CVS Pharmacy store will open at 2438 32nd Ave. W. in April of next year.
In an email, CVS public relations manager Stepahnie Cunha wrote that the company is pleased to be expanding its footprint in the Seattle area, and the new store, “will provide a large assortment of better-for-you snacks and high quality health, beauty and personal care products; [and] exclusive private label products that come with a 100 percent money back guarantee,” along with the chain’s rewards programs.
Geza de Gall, vice president of real estate for the Pacific Northwest office of the commercial real estate firm the Velmeir Cos., the developer on the project, characterized the work in an email as an “interior remodel and exterior face lift,” and said the project was fairly typical compared to other developments the company has worked on. The budget for the development was not disclosed.
The preliminary site plan submitted through the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections called for a 7,200 square foot first floor with a 2,800 square foot mezzanine level, with 19 parking spaces.
The most recent valuation from the King County Assessor appraised the land value at nearly $1.5 million, and the building at approximately $350,000.
Outgoing Magnolia Chamber of Commerce executive director Greg Carnese said that the addition of CVS would be a boon to the neighborhood’s main retail core.
“It makes sense for them to have a location where Expedia’s new headquarters are going to be,” he said. “My personal feeling is this is a huge benefit to Magnolia Village to have this new business coming in, because it’s going to be bringing all of those folks from Expedia up into Magnolia, into the Village, so it’s going to be bringing new people into Magnolia, who are going to discover what a great place it is.”
This also won’t be the first time the site has housed a drugstore. Before moving to its current location in the early 1990s, Bartell Drugs sat on the site.
CVS is still relatively new to Western Washington, opening its first location in the region in August 2014, and added a store in Uptown (531 Queen Anne Ave. N.) earlier this year. The pharmacy has more than 9,600 locations nationwide
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