Grist for rumor mill mainly gristle

A friend of a friend of a friend of a little birdy told us, there's no plan at the moment to bring Fred Meyer to Moses Lake. Actually, the word comes from a little higher up than that.

"There is no plans, nothing going on, for Fred Meyer in Moses Lake," said Mary Lofton, vice president of public affairs and company spokesperson for Fred Meyer Stores, returning a call Tuesday made because the hot gossip was that Freddy was about to put in an appearance.

This is a common occurrence. Somewhere along the line, wishful thinking and reality become blurred and before you know it, everyone and their neighbor are whispering like experts about the imminent arrival of The Gap, Costco, Target, Red Robin, Shopko and just about every place of business that people leave town to frequent.

It's hard to dismiss completely the rumor mill. After all, it comes from a good place — the desire by residents to see growth and the feeling that any business is a possibility to arrive in the area.

The problem is that there never seems to be any meat to the rumors. Perhaps these companies really are eyeing Moses Lake and the surrounding communities. Who could blame them? We hear over and over that the area is on the cusp of its really great breakthrough. All it needs are jobs, baby boomers to retire, a revitalized downtown, etc.

In fact, in answering questions for a pending Progress edition story, Susan Alsted of Alsted Real Estate offered this tantalizing tidbit about North Gateway Center, which she represents for Aero-Space Port International (ASPI) Group, whose division, North American Foreign Trade Zone Industries, owns the North Gateway Center property, expected to open in June: She said that the project is generating a lot of interest, but could not reveal company names.

"There are some big boxes, big box retailers," she said. "They're looking at Moses Lake with great interest … We're on the map. They're common names, names that we go to other cities to shop at."

One company is very close to making a commitment, Alsted said, going on to call the project one of the most exciting commercial projects this side of the mountains.

And while that's exciting — feel free to start adding to your list of dream stores for Moses Lake (mine includes Wendy's and Bruchi's) — just because representatives are in town looking around doesn't automatically mean they're snapping up property. It just means they're keeping an eye on things for future reference, or else they're not quite ready to make a public announcement yet. Sometimes negotiations can be fragile, and early leaks could cause the deal to fall through.

Meanwhile, what of the businesses we already have at our disposal? The possibilities should not detract from those actually present. There isn't exactly a shortage of places for people to go (save for evenings and on Sundays — extend your hours, people!) or a dearth of options. Like most people, we just want more.

Will any of these businesses, if and when they actually do open their doors, prove to be the life-changing event that means Grant County has finally arrived, hit an economic success of Seattle-sized proportions? Of course not, nor do we necessarily want it to. At the same time, we complain about there not being many options in Moses Lake at a certain time, it is kind of cool to drive through downtown Moses Lake late on a Friday, see how still everything is and enjoy the quiet peace.

The cliche is that good things come to those who wait. We're waiting, but at the same time, forces like the Grant County Economic Development Council are actively marketing the area overseas and abroad. We're doing everything right; it just takes time. At this point, growth seems an inevitability, but one that should be met with patience instead of gossip disguised as truth.

Matthew Weaver is the business and agriculture reporter for the Columbia Basin Herald.