OPENINGS AROUND THE SOUND

A look at the area's new stores

Posted May 2006

Sony Style, a 6,000 square-foot store offering hands-on demonstrations of the Japanese electronics giant's line of products and media, opened at University Village on March 17. The store's employees are regularly trained on the latest array of technologies to help consumers understand how the products and services can enhance their lives. Among the electronics showcased are components to outfit a home theater, digital cameras and computers. Media merchandise includes the latest CDs from Sony's BMG music label, DVDs and PlayStation games.

The chain, designed to draw women, opened 15 new locations across the country since April 2005. There are a total of 32 Sony Style shops in the U.S.

H-Mart, an upscale Korean grocery expected to house at least a baker's dozen of smaller shops inside, will open its first Washington store in Federal Way in May.

With 60,000 square feet, H-Mart will be the largest of the Federal Way-area Asian grocers. It promises to always bear in mind its mission to deliver a "healthy," "humane," "happy" and "heartful" experience.

The grocery, which began in Woodside, New York and later branched out around the east coast, Colorado and British Columbia, offers online order and delivery via mail. Much of the store's food is imported directly from Asia, allowing the store to offer fresh food tailored to its shoppers.

The grocer is poised to take advantage of tremendous growth in the Asian communities around Federal Way. In the 10-mile radius around the new H-Mart, the number of Asian households is expected to grow 19 percent over the next five years to 17,520.

Pier 1, the country's largest specialty retailer of imported decorative home furnishings and gifts, added to its store count with a new location in Mill Creek Town Center.

Pier 1 is changing its merchandise lineup as it increases the number of area stores. Photo courtesy of Pier 1 Imports.

The April grand opening comes at a time when the chain is in a transition period. Pier 1 is reducing the number of items in each store from 4,500 to 2,500 in order to focus on more fashionable merchandise. Shoppers, mostly women between the ages of 18 and 49, will still find a cadre of lighting, vases, flatware and other home accessories.

The chain, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, imports furniture from more than 50 countries to a growing collection of stores, now numbering in excess of 1,200.

Adults in the Seattle-Tacoma DMA are 29 percent more likely to shop at a home accessory store than the average American, making it the number one accessory market in the U.S.