A California liquor store chain has officially announced it is coming to Bellingham.
BevMo said Tuesday, Oct. 30, that it is opening four more stores in Washington, including one in Bellingham.
The other store openings are slated for Bellevue, the Northgate area of Seattle and the Ballard area of Seattle. According to The Associated Press, BevMo plans to open the Bellingham and Ballard stores in February.
In a liquor license application submitted to the Washington State Liquor Control Board last month, BevMo stated it wanted to move into 114 W. Stuart Road, in the shopping center near Meridian Street that's home to United Furniture and Big 5 Sporting Goods.
The plan is for BevMo to take a portion of the United Furniture space. The furniture company will then move part of its store into a neighboring empty space, said Jason Conway, manager at Bellingham's United Furniture.
When the remodeling is complete, BevMo will have about 11,000 square feet of space, while United Furniture will reduce its space from 22,000 square feet to about 17,000 square feet, Conway said.
Once BevMo is in place, it will leave only one small space vacant in the 42,000-square-foot retail center.
BevMo said in a press release that it plans to have the Bellevue and Northgate area stores open in November. The chain has also opened stores in Tacoma, Silverdale and Tukwila since the state's liquor privatization rules took effect in June.
The new stores will include tasting rooms and thousands of wines, spirits and beers. It will also offer specialty snacks, cheeses and party products. For details about BevMo, visit bevmo.com.
Reach DAVE GALLAGHER at dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2269. Visit his business blog online at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/business or get updates on Twitter at twitter.com/BhamHeraldBiz.
