Costco Wholesale Corp. planned to tear down Bellevue's shuttered Kmart building and replace it with a Costco Fresh grocery store, reviving a concept that would allow Costco to enter an urban market with a smaller footprint.
The proposed Costco Fresh would differ from the company's traditional warehouse stores by concentrating on fresh foods and gourmet grocery items.
The store "will focus almost exclusively on grocery and associated services with special attention to fresh produce, meats, seafood and baked goods," in addition to the bulk-packaged foods found in the company's traditional warehouses, according to Costco's preliminary application to the city. It also will include a pharmacy, an optical department, photo processing and a cafe.
Costco proposes to raze the former Kmart building, which comprises 106,153 square feet, and replace it with a 105,594-square-foot building, including a garden center of 5,231 square feet, according to the company's preliminary plans.
