The remnants of a crowd meander outside End of the Trail in Rochester Monday morning.
Harry Pickernell, tribal chairman of the Chehalis tribe, addresses a crowd at the soft opening of End of the Trail in Rochester Monday morning.
Chehalis tribal members celebrated the soft opening of what tribe leadership plan will one day be a full-fledged travel plaza in Grand Mound just off Interstate 5 Monday morning.
This marks the third End of the Trail convenience store the Chehalis tribe has opened, and with its latest, Chris Richardson, managing director of Chehalis tribal enterprises, said they hope it turns exit 88 into a major hub for motorists travelling between Seattle and Portland.
“We believe that all these businesses here will increase,” he said, echoing words from David Burnett, the chief executive officer of Chehalis tribal enterprises, who said the goal was not to take away from other business, but to draw more people to the area.
Burnett said planning has been underway since 2015 — before the time he took office in March 2016, and was headed by project manager David Youckton.
But construction of the store itself was a relatively brief ordeal, said Director of Government and Public Relations for the Chehalis Tribe Jeff Warnke, who estimated the project first broke ground a few months ago. Now, it consists of the store, indoor food options and a Station 88 gas station.
“These types of developments are what fund the tribal government. Normal cities and counties have a tax base they can draw from to pay for their essential government services, and because the tribe is all on reservation land, and the land is held in trust by the federal government, the federal government holds title to the land, so they can’t tax the property. So, the way they pay for their government is through economic development ventures,” said Warnke.
A crowd of noteworthy size meandered through the store Monday morning, taking a look at its selection of all the convenience store staples. In the future, the property will play host to a Burger King and an Arby’s. Inside the store, there is takeout Chinese food and sushi. Ron Chow and Jae Chung partnered with the tribe to bring Chinatown Café and Sushi Kyo to the store, and were on hand Monday morning for the soft opening celebration.
Chow said the Asian cuisine options at End of the Trail provide a good alternative to the saturation of American fast food in the immediate area.
“I think this will be a very welcoming addition,” Chow said.
The tribe has also partnered up with Dutch Bros. Coffee.
A crowd gathered outside the store for an address and ribbon cutting ceremony mostly helmed by Tribal Chairman Harry Pickernell, who said the store will be open 24 hours a day. In keeping with a tradition started at the last opening of an End of the Trail convenience store, the crowd watched as the first tank of gas was filled at the recently opened gas station.
The day was meant as a chance for the tribal community to take a look at the work that’s been going on.
“Tribal government owns the store, so this is really their store,” said Warnke. “So we invite the tribal community in to kind of take a look around, see what’s going on on their reservation.”
End of the Trail is located at 19615 Elderberry St. SW, Rochester. The store will be open to the public Wednesday.
