Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
More fast food variety will be coming to Yelm in the near future, as a Wingstop location, along with a combination Jimmy John’s and Baskin-Robbins, are expected to open within the next several months.
Cody Colt, Yelm’s public works director, told the Nisqually Valley News that the Wingstop location will be found at 937 W. Yelm Ave. Suite B, in between the recently opened Starbucks and MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care locations.
Additionally, the Jimmy John’s and Baskin-Robbins combination will set its roots at 1010 E. Yelm Ave. Suite I, in the old Pecos Pit location.
“Wingstop will be first. They’re shooting for a September opening date. They haven’t told us the date yet, but they’ve done all their paperwork, so they should be able to open next month,” Colt said on Monday, Aug. 18. “Jimmy John’s and Baskin-Robbins will be right after that. They’re shooting for October, depending on how their staff gets trained up. They’re still doing some modifications inside too.”
Next year, a new gas station will also call Yelm home as Circle K is slated to be constructed on the corner of Killion Road Southeast and state Route 510, near the locations of Yelm’s Farrelli’s Pizza and Olympia Federal Savings.
“Their plans are approved, and they can start building whenever. They wanted to do some sign stuff, so they have a little bit longer,” Colt said. “I imagine they’ll be open probably mid-time next year — probably June or July of next year.”
He added that a Panda Express branch in Yelm is “right around the same timeline” as a Circle K gas station, noting they’re currently reviewing the fast casual Chinese restaurant’s plans. The location will be found in the Nisqually Plaza in front of the dirt field near King Cronic, according to Colt.
“They’ll open their location in Yelm a little bit later than the Circle K. I’d imagine that around this time next year, Panda Express will be open,” Colt said. “There was an issue with their traffic study, so we’re going to meet with them to fix that. They should be good to go afterwards.”
Colt noted that several developers are in the process of submitting plans for commercial zoning in two spots near Yelm’s Walmart location. The developers have shown Colt and the city plans, and now the city is awaiting a formal submission of the development plans.
One of the two locations will be parallel to Walmart and state Route 507, and Colt described these commercial plans as being the furthest ahead of the two near the shopping center. The second location will be in the grass field between Long Shot and Walmart, on the corner of Walmart Boulevard and state Route 507.
“It’s all commercial space. One proposed two retails, and one kind of fast food place. The other proposed a couple retail with two fast foods. One of those was a double lane similar to Chick-fil-A. We’re expecting that kind of small commercial space. Maybe a retail shop here or there,” Colt said. “People are seeing that Yelm is a town to build in. I think that’s a good thing. People want to come to Yelm, and we want people who want to be here. It’s only going to help Yelm in the totality of itself and become better.”
The public works director believes it’s a good thing to see these businesses wanting to set up shop in Yelm. He said they will hopefully attract more people into the city, which can allow visitors to potentially discover other local businesses in Yelm.
“It brings in people that normally wouldn’t stop, so it’s a good thing,” Colt said. “I think it’s a good thing. I know a lot of people want different things, and this might not be exactly what they’re expecting. But these are good businesses that are normally locally owned. The guy opening the Jimmy John’s is a franchisee who lives in the area. So, those kinds of businesses are good. You want these kinds of businesses to bring more people to Yelm so they’ll also visit the other businesses, too.”
