After a decade of having to go “up the hill” for groceries, Fife residents are one step closer to being able to shop within its city limits.

It may not be the all-inclusive grocer complete with the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, but the new market will help fill a need the Fife community has long felt.

Fife has not had a grocery store since the last IGA closed down more than 10 years ago. Prior to that, the city had two grocery stores operating simultaneously, but both of those burned down.

The Puyallup Tribe’s economic development arm, Marine View Ventures, has begun site work on a multi-faceted marketplace that will allow the Fife community to purchase produce and other fresh and prepared foods in their own city.

“I live in Fife and I have to drive to Edgewood for groceries,” said Tribal Councilmember Bill Sterud. “How do you have a city without a grocery store?”

The 12,000-square-foot building will house a gas station and convenience store – a type of business that Marine             View Ventures is already well versed in. It will also include a small-    format grocery store and potentially a liquor store, in addition to regular convenience-store items.

The gas station component will also house a full-service express carwash.

“One of our goals is to fill a need in the Fife community in a way that also fits with our gas and convenience mission,” said Jamey Balousek, chief operations officer for Marine View Ventures.

The design team began working on this project in the spring of 2010. Site work has begun at the location adjacent to the Emerald Queen Casino. Jamey Balousek said he expects the project to be completed by March 2011.

“It’s a new building concept that isn’t in Fife right now, or the area. We have taken a really fresh, original approach in what we’re designing to see if it really meets the needs of the market.”

The market and gas station will be located east of the casino, between 59th and 62nd avenues. It will be the fourth gas station owned and operated by the tribe, and is expected to further benefit the Tribe’s economy by hitting a need of a target demographic.

“Our gas stations have been so wonderful, it makes sense to go this way, and it diversifies our economic development (as a tribe),” Bill Sterud said. “We hope to take advantage of the traffic flow coming in and out of the casino, the truckers that get gas and the community of Fife. It covers a lot of different customer bases.

“In the long-term, the market will be an important part of the tribal economy.”

 The City of Fife has been trying to create incentives for grocery store development within the city to encourage a chain grocery retailer to settle in Fife. So far, there have not been any takers.

“The number one thing we hear we need most from the Fife community is a grocery store,” Fife City Manager Steve Worthington said. “It’s just what the community needs.”

“Grocery services are among the most sought services by the residents of Fife – and my wife Lisa – so I am certain this store will be well received,” Fife Mayor Barry Johnson said. “This project really shows the Tribe’s dedication to recognizing the needs within the community at large and helping to meet them.”