New Highlands “Grocery Outlet” opens in expertly remodeled bowling alley

(Thanks to my wife Cathy, who took the photos for me with her cell phone camera– I had not planned the stop and we did not have our regular camera)

Cathy and I stopped into the new Highlands “Grocery Outlet” on Friday night while dashing out for bread, and we were very impressed by the new store. (2809 Sunset Ave NE in Renton Highlands).

Grocery Outlet is a growing chain in the western US, with many devoted fans. Their stores are generally independently owned, and Renton store owners Jeff & Erin McNeil have long local ties to the Renton area.

When I stopped by the new store on Sunset, I found the deals excellent, the staff friendly, and the store clean and bright. I also felt the architect and builder did an amazing job converting the building from a bowling alley to a grocery store. They did an immense degree of restoration to the the building, including removing false ceilings and reworking the entire floor. They also built in accents that gave a nod to the building’s history, with such details as using bowling pins to mark check-out lanes, recycling segments from the original wooden lanes for floor in the checkout aisles, and placement of bowling lockers near the front door.

Like many families in the Highlands, we were very sorry to see the Hillcrest Bowl close– the old, familiar bowling alley had hosted countless parties, social events, and tournaments over he decades, and several different owners had made a gallant effort to keep it viable. Most of my kids learned to bowl at this alley. It looked to me that as the bowling alley aged and continued to consume on-going renovations and maintenance, it became harder for the ownership to find a price-point that was low enough to keep customers returning, while high enough to keep paying for the upgrades and repairs necessary to compete with newer bowling alleys. So it’s been closed over a year. Here are a few memorial comments to the Hillcrest Bowl.

The “Grocery Outlet” has done an excellent job of giving the property a new lease on life, and injecting some vitality back into this shopping center. My family will be stopping by the Grocery Outlet frequently, as their deals are too good to pass up and their store is a pleasant place to shop.

Be sure you stop by, check out their amazing prices, and welcome them into our neighborhood.

The old lanes help decorate the check-out aisles(bowling shoes are not required)

Decoration throughout recognizes the building’s history as the Hillcrest Bowling Center