After Years of Nothing, a Long-Vacant Parcel in Olympia Has Finally Been Transformed

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For years, a parcel of land in the 3000 block of Pacific Avenue Southeast in Olympia wasn’t much to look at.

Some might remember it as the site of a former adult video business, followed by a short-lived strip club that opened in April 2014 and closed in November of the same year. And then it sat, largely becoming an eyesore for passing traffic.

But in 2016, Satnam Singh was one of those driving by and noticed the property was for sale. He and his partners bought the parcel and began work to turn it into the Pacific Chevron Food Mart. If it strikes you as familiar, that’s because he also runs the Plum Street Chevron Food Mart at Union Avenue and Plum Street in Olympia.

The Pacific Chevron Food Mart opened March 28, although it wasn’t always easy getting to the finish line.

Singh’s frustrations boiled over in August when he told The Olympian he felt his project had been unnecessarily delayed by city of Olympia officials. He became so concerned that he and his family protested outside City Hall, Singh said at the time.

But after meeting with The Olympian on Wednesday, Singh and his business partner, Amrik Sangha, seemed ready to move on. A third partner, Amarjit Singh, wasn’t present for the interview.



“It worked out,” Satnam said, adding the community has been supportive before and after the business opened.

Singh is from Punjab in northern India. He came to the United States in 1998 and went to work at a car wash in Fremont, California, earning $6 per hour. He washed as many as 200 cars per day, he said.

But it was also the beginning of a business career.

He later worked in the taxi business, bought a home, watched it increase in value, sold it and bought a 76 gas station in Moses Lake, Washington. From there, he eventually settled in Thurston County.