Lowe’s brings new highs to Sunset

City working to ease traffic problems

With the grand opening of Lowe’s Home Improvement Center on September 4, a new era begins for Bellingham’s Sunset neighborhood. The community, now primarily characterized by retail stores, is bounded by I-5 on the west, Orleans Street on the east, Sunset Pond and the new Barkley Extension to the north and south.

Sunset Square shopping center has long been the focus of the district, which now broadens a bit with the addition of Lowe’s. A variety of other businesses will share the Lowe’s site, although at press time only McDonald’s was locked in. The very fact that Lowe’s chose the Sunset location is indication of how bright the district’s future is.

Lowe’s is the nation’s second largest home improvement retailer and the 13th largest retailer in the country with $22 billion in sales last year. That kind of success means Lowe’s has made a lot of good decisions when it comes to locating their stores. The Fortune 500 company considers more than 400 factors when choosing a store site, according to company spokesman Matt VanVleet. Just what those factors are is proprietary information, but they’re backed up by 56 years of company history.

While one “big box” home improvement retailer recently went toes up, Lowe’s is forging ahead. The company now has 780 stores in 42 states and will add 123 new locations by the end of this year. Home improvement stores actually do better when the economy is wobbly. Homeowners tend to do their own repairs rather than calling in professionals when times are uncertain. They also tend to keep their homes longer rather than buying new ones, meaning more fix-up projects.

Bellingham’s new Lowe’s closely matches the company’s prototype: 121,000 square feet of retail space augmented with about 30,000 square feet more in the lawn and garden section. In addition to the new jobs created by the facility, Lowe’s brings a tradition of community involvement with programs such as Lowe’s Heroes and Lowe’s Home Safety Council.

“Sunset is a good fit for us,” said VanVleet. “The types of homes in the area, the central location and access from I-5 all figured in our decision.”

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar is another newcomer to Sunset and by all accounts is a howling success. Dan Krebsbach, president of operations for the franchisee in this area, said his company was not aware of the new Lowe’s store when they made their plans, but is delighted by the addition.

The franchise chain was founded in Atlanta and now makes its headquarters in Kansas City. Applebee’s has more than 1400 locations nationwide and about 16 in the state of Washington. New Applebee’s restaurants are opening on the average of one a week. The emphasis on “neighborhood” in the name is no accident.

“We prefer to be away from major malls,” Krebsbach said, “and look for an area that offers a mix of residential and retail. The industrial park on Hannegan also figured into our decision.”

Applebee’s looks for a population base of 20,000 to 40,000 people in the areas served by its restaurants. The franchisee that operates the Bellingham facility has eight restaurants in western Washington, but has no plans at present for any further expansion north of Seattle. Krebsbach reports that the Bellingham location has met all the company’s expectations and they are very pleased with the response.

“Sunset offers us high visibility in a shopping area that was recently renovated,” said Krebsbach.

Applebee’s leases its space from a Canadian corporation, but most Sunset Square tenants send their rent checks to Pan Pacific Retail in California. Pan Pacific, like Applebee’s, prefers shopping centers like Sunset Square rather than the major malls.

“You get a much different demographic in a center anchored by grocery and drug stores rather than department stores,” said Carol Merriman, Pan Pacific’s director of marketing. “Grocery and drug stores generate more frequent traffic, thus benefiting all the retailers.”

Merriman agrees that Lowe’s will be a boost to the area, although the size of the impact remains to be seen.

Pan Pacific, which also owns Blaine International Center in the border town, has no plans to expand Sunset Square. With a relatively low turnover of tenants, Pan Pacific is happy with the mix.

Mike Hilgert is store group leader for the Cost Cutter grocery that anchors one end of Sunset Square. He agrees with other tenants that Lowe’s will have a net positive effect on the area despite increased traffic. The average customer visits Cost Cutter twice a week, which, again, is more frequent than average visits to a mall anchored by department stores.

“The mix of small and large retailers at Sunset,” said Hilgert, “benefits everyone.”

He adds that Sunset Square shoppers are a more diverse group than the customers at Brown & Cole’s stores at Lakeway and Meridian, coming from the Barkley area, Alabama Hill, and the Lettered Streets neighborhoods. Hilgert reports that business is good and that the new Barkley extension seems to be helping the traffic flow.

One of the original tenants in Sunset Square, Brown’s Beauty Supply is representative of the smaller specialty retailers. Burrell and Gloria Hardan and their daughter own the store and a larger wholesale operation on Meridian. They located in Sunset Square to take advantage of Canadian business and have survived the dive of the Canadian dollar.

The Hardans credit Pan Pacific Retail for an ambitious advertising program that helps keep the numbers up.

They firmly believe that they couldn’t survive in a high-rent mall. Sunset Square management also allows more flexibility in store operating hours than most malls. That can be a crucial factor in helping small businesses survive. The Hardans know about survival. Brown’s Beauty Supply has specialized in wigs since 1912 and carries the largest selection in the Northwest. They get a lot of referrals for patients undergoing chemotherapy and subsequent loss of hair.

Because of their “niche” approach to retailing and a large selection of cosmetics, they draw theatrical business as well as regular customers. The Hardans had 17 stores across the state until they decided to cut back to five a couple of years ago. Their biggest problem? Attracting good help for the wages they can afford to pay. One of the reasons they remain open in Bellingham is that first-class help is still available here if you are willing to pay Seattle wages.

They like the fact that Sunset Square attracts an upscale clientele and attribute that to a clean, safe environment fostered by Pan Pacific and the Sunset Square tenants.

“Security is good at Sunset Square,” said Burrell, “and that’s very important to shoppers.”

In addition to the high visibility and proximity to I-5, Sunset Square also has the advantage of a Whatcom Transit bus stop on its doorstep. That’s because a city street, James, runs through the center. That city street is a double-edged sword, however. Traffic flow on James Street is such that turning onto it from some of the center’s parking areas can be a headache.

The mix of public and private streets makes addressing the problem difficult. The city can’t allow the flow of traffic on James Street to be interrupted without making the situation worse than it is.

Clark Williams of the City of Bellingham planning department said that Woodstock Way, which runs behind Sunset Square, was supposed to take some of the load. The original plans were for traffic from Woodstock to flow through onto James Street Road without stopping. Unfortunately, a culvert prevented the designers from using the radius of turn necessary for that feature, so James traffic flows through while Woodstock traffic must stop. Reconstruction of James Street Road, which is in the city’s six-year plan but not yet funded, may help ease the problem eventually.

Visitors from Seattle usually scratch their heads when Bellinghamsters complain about traffic problems in the Sunset area, but locals still fume over congestion. The new widening of Sunset from Orleans to Hannegan should improve matters substantially. In return for enduring a few weeks of construction mayhem, local motorists will soon benefit from a long-awaited improvement in the traffic flow.

Lynne Henefin of Henefin Heavy Construction, reports that the project is on schedule and should be finished by late October or early November. The major intersection at Sunset and Hannegan is finished and traffic should be flowing better by the time you read this.

Clark Williams reports that despite the addition of Lowe’s, there was a net gain in traffic capacity in the area as a result of the new Barkley Extension. The city will also add a dedicated right turn lane onto Sunset from Orleans and widen the Mt. Baker Post Office driveway, which is about all they can do to relieve one of the area’s prize bottlenecks.

Williams says the city plans to add a traffic signal at Sunset and Racine and revisit the possibility of connecting Racine to Barkley. The six-year plan also calls for the eventual widening of Sunset all the way to Britton Road, although that project has yet to be funded.

Even though the traffic problems are being addressed, living within walking distance of the Sunset shopping area is a big advantage. Residents of the Sunset Pond Apartments immediately behind Sunset Square can enjoy that advantage along with a pastoral view of Sunset Pond.

Karl Vranjes, manager of the complex, has lived there seven years and likes the combination.

“We attract mostly professional people,” Vranjes said, “and have no trouble keeping our units rented.”

At press time, in fact, there was only one unit available. Vranjes sees both advantages and disadvantages in all the commercial activity in the area.

“The traffic makes it hard for residents to get in and out,” he said, “but it also attracts new people to the area. We don’t have to do much advertising or offer move-in specials.”

The Sunset Pond Apartments offer such amenities as cable TV, washer/dryer in each unit, and resident managers on duty 24 hours a day.

Life is good at the Sunset Pond Apartments, according to Vranjes, and his retail counterparts across Woodstock Way agree.