Issaquah To Look At Costco's Plan To Sell Gas

ISSAQUAH

Costco shopping is one-stop, no-frills, bulk-sized and cheap.

Local members say it's a real gas - and that might be the next thing they can buy at Issaquah's warehouse.

The retailer - which sells everything from toilet paper to leather love seats - has asked the city of Issaquah for permission to build a 12-pump station at its store in Pickering Place shopping center, just north of Interstate 90.

The city's Development Commission is holding a public hearing at 7 tonight at City Hall South about the proposed station. If Costco can convince the city that the station is a worthwhile and an environmentally sound endeavor, it will build its first gas station on the Eastside.

Cheap gas prices - and long lines at the pump - have come to other communities around the country where the Issaquah-based company has built its 25 gas stations over the past three years.

"It's not uncommon for people to drive 15 or 20 miles to get gas here," says Carl Milton, manager of the Costco gas station in North Spokane, which opened last summer.

That was the first Washington station, followed by two others: Silverdale, in Kitsap County, and Tukwila. The Tukwila station, which opened last month, now sells unleaded gas for 99 cents, said Carolyn Hagemeyer, assistant manager of the Tukwila store.

If an Issaquah station opened, "I'd be like every other small merchant competing with big business," says Bruce Wendt, franchise

operator of an Arco station near the Pickering Place shopping center. "I'd be concerned for the health and welfare of my business."

Costco officials say they keep costs low with no-frills service. Like other Costco gas stations, Issaquah's would not have bathrooms, window-washing tubs, air pumps or a convenience store.

To pay for service, members would insert a special gas card or Costco credit card into a scanner for authorization and then use credit or debit cards. Cash and checks would not be accepted.

There would be no need, then, for a gas-station attendant, though employees would be available to explain how to use the pumps, officials say.

Costco wants to start building in Issaquah as soon as it gets the city's approval and have the station operating by the end of summer, says Jim Sinegal, Costco's president and chief executive officer.

"We're very excited about it," he says. "We've got an attractive business at the Issaquah warehouse, so we like it from that standpoint."

Janet Burkitt's phone message number is 206-515-5689. Her e-mail address is: jbur-new@seatimes.com