A nearly 25-year-old Pacific Northwest coffee chain is finally setting up shop in Pierce County, and it's picking a familiar East Main Avenue address to do it. Woods Coffee plans to open its first Puyallup location at 1115 E. Main Ave., the last week of September, moving into a building that most recently housed a Taco Time restaurant.
Woods Coffee spokesperson Ryan Spiker told The News Tribune that the company is targeting the final week of September for its Puyallup debut, though as of late August the chain had not yet locked in an official opening date. The News Tribune reports the shop will include a fireplace and the cabin-style design the chain is known for, part of what the company calls a welcoming space meant to resemble a cabin in the woods.
The building has quite the recent backstory. General contractor Lyle Sanders said the site was originally expected to be remodeled into a Starbucks after Taco Time moved out, but Starbucks ultimately backed out of the lease, clearing the way for Woods Coffee to move in instead, according to the same report.
A Family-Founded Chain Reaches 20 Locations
Woods Coffee has operated for nearly 25 years, growing out of a hands-on business education project that founders Wes and Diane Herman ran in 2002 with their four homeschooled teenage children in Lynden, Washington, according to WhatcomTalk. What started as a family experiment has since grown into a chain of 20 coffeehouses across the Northwest, with existing locations in Issaquah, Renton, Bellevue and Bothell, per the News Tribune's reporting.
The company keeps its supply chain in-house rather than leaning on outside vendors. Woods Coffee bakes every item from scratch at a central commissary bakery in Lynden, delivering fresh goods to its stores each day, according to Eat Local First. The chain also roasts its own beans, having opened a 4,000-square-foot roastery attached to its Lakeway Drive cafe in Bellingham back in 2016, complete with a 35-kilo Loring Smart Roast roaster and a 300-gallon stainless steel cold brew system, as reported by Daily Coffee News.
What's On the Menu
The Puyallup shop will serve the chain's standard lineup, including lattes, mochas, cold brew and iced tea, along with blended beverages, hot and cold coffee drinks, and seasonal options like caramel apple cider, lemonade and hot chocolate. Woods Coffee announced the new location in a Facebook post, and the News Tribune reported the company said in late August that it was putting the finishing touches on the space while preparing for a fall 2026 opening.
The Puyallup opening follows closely on the heels of another expansion move. Woods Coffee opened a new coffeehouse on NW Gilman Blvd in Issaquah in late August, expanding its King County footprint just weeks before crossing into Pierce County, according to a Facebook post from Woods Coffee.
Why Puyallup, Why Now
Puyallup makes for an attractive target market. The city's population reached roughly 44,000 residents this year with a median household income of $97,826, according to Hoodline, giving retail food and beverage investments a solid base of local spending power. That's happening against a backdrop of heavy statewide competition — Washington ranks second in the nation for coffee shop density, with 57.3 shops per 100,000 residents and roughly 4,000 coffee establishments statewide, per the Lynnwood Times.
Woods Coffee's arrival also fits a broader shift already underway in Pierce County, where quick-service coffee stands are transforming into full-service, sit-down cafes. Rainier Valley Coffee announced plans earlier this year to make that same transition in Puyallup, and a Lake Tapps coffee stand recently expanded into a full cafe serving mimosas and dirty sodas — part of a documented move across East Pierce County toward expanded gathering spaces with fireplaces and bigger menus.
Woods Coffee previously brought that same fireplace-and-bakery formula to King County, including a Bellevue location on 116th Ave NE that Hoodline covered in 2018, noting its ties to the Bellingham roastery and Lynden bakery. Now that same model is headed to East Main Avenue, in a building whose Starbucks plans never quite panned out.
