Gig Harbor shops show no fear
A long-awaited Costco in Gig Harbor is scheduled to open on the north end Friday.
On the other side of town, the massive Uptown development opened Thursday with a Borders bookstore. It eventually will have a 10-screen movie theater, a Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop and more than 30 other tenants.
But the new stores can’t offer the experience that shopping in downtown Gig Harbor can, said John Moist, general manager at Arabella’s Landing Marina and an active downtown business leader.
“That’s what has kept us alive, and that’s what’s going to keep us alive,” he said.
Downtown has survived the openings of large chain stores such as Target, Home Depot and Fred Meyer, and it will survive this, too, Moist said.
Still, elected leaders are looking at ways to keep downtown thriving. Today a consultant is scheduled to discuss with the City Council how Gig Harbor’s original commercial center can survive stores opening closer to where new homes are going in.
