Sub shop fills Olympia vacancy, e-commerce giant makes it official, COVID testing site opens
Olympia Square is the shopping center that flanks Pacific Avenue near Fones Road. And on the north side of the development, there used to be a Subway sandwich shop that closed around the time the pandemic arrived in spring 2020.
That’s according to business owner Randy McCartney, who used to operate the Subway at 3430 Pacific Ave. after he retired from North Thurston High School as its band director.
McCartney ran the Subway for seven years, then sold the business on contract to a new operator who, after four years, sought bankruptcy protection, leading to the closure of the Subway. Unable to sell the business following the bankruptcy, McCartney, 66, finds himself in business again.
This time, however, he is running an independent sandwich business called Olympia Square Sub Shop. It opened this summer, offering sub sandwiches, specialty sandwiches and extras, such as chips, cookies and soft drinks.
The business operates 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, but McCartney is prepared to expand his hours and days of operation once two more businesses open in the area — two business he believes will generate more customer traffic: a Gravity Coffee location under construction opposite his business, and Crunch Fitness, which is set to open next to Albertsons. Once that happens, McCartney said he is prepared to expand to seven days a week and open as early as 5 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
Other business happenings
Amazon made it official on Wednesday, announcing the opening of its new 510,000-square-foot distribution facility at 3300 Hogum Bay Road NE in Lacey. The site, according to Amazon, brings more than 1,000 new full-time jobs to the Lacey area, with an average starting wage of $18 an hour.
Bird’s Eye Medical has opened a downtown Olympia COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot at the corner of Seventh Avenue Southeast and Capitol Way South. Testing is only by appointment 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, go to https://birdseyemedical.com/.
The Phone Guys, an electronics retailer, has opened a store in Lacey across from Fred Meyer at 720 Sleater Kinney Road SE, Suite G.
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Sub shop fills Olympia vacancy, e-commerce giant makes it official, COVID testing site opens."
