It could go anywhere it wishes, but prefers locations where a Wal-Mart is wanted by consumers, opposition from merchants notwithstanding. Meanwhile, Auburn, which has 36,000 residents but is hardly centrally located in King County, suddenly has become a destination for Puget Sound consumers with wads of cash. Less than a year old is the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Casino, which opened last April a few miles east of the SuperMall and Wal-Mart store. If all goes as planned, the new Emerald Downs horse-racing track will be operating by this summer on the north side of town. Auburn currently has no movie theater.
Life is good.
A promotional campaign is under way to change that, but Morrisette says he is surprised many hotel developers are unaware of the opportunity. Somebody is asleep. Technology is driving the Washington and national economies. From 1990 through 1994, some 12,000 new software jobs in Washington helped offset the loss of 31,000 Boeing jobs. Those were among the observations provided at Washington CEO 's sixth-annual Economic Forecast Breakfast by guest speakers Robert Genetski, a nationally known economist and investment adviser, and Chang Mook Sohn, the state's chief economist.