The south Puget Sound city of Lakewood is now home to Stina’s Cellars, an award-winning winery that has carved out a niche in the production of small lots of premium wines at affordable prices. Previously located in University Place, the new location in the Lakewood Industrial Park allows the winery to more than double the square footage of the wine production facility and warehouse space as well as build out a new tasting room.
“Although we did not originally consider Lakewood, it turned out that the Industrial Park had the perfect space and was less expensive per square foot than what we had been paying, which was a huge bonus,” said Perry Preston who owns the winery along with his wife Penny and son Ethan. “The increase in square footage gives us the ability to increase our production.”
The Preston’s previous location provided about 1,300 square feet of warehouse space and a very small tasting room, with no room for expansion. The new facility is 2,656 square feet with a 200-square-foot tasting room. Additionally, the Industrial Park is centrally located for ease of distribution and exporting of products as far away as Fuzhou, China. Stina’s Cellars garnered attention in the spring of 2009 when it became the first business in Pierce County to directly benefit from a pilot project that sought to match local businesses with Tacoma’s Sister City of Fuzhou. Exports to China are now approximately 15 percent of the winery’s annual production.
“The Lakewood Industrial Park is the perfect location for Stina’s Cellars, which requires easy access to southwestern and eastern Washington where they source their grapes and to the Port of Tacoma for exports to China,” said City of Lakewood Economic Development Manager Ellie Chambers-Grady. “We are thrilled to have the Prestons join the more than 1,100 other businesses that call Lakewood their home.”
Lakewood’s position at the junction of I-5, SR-512, and US Hwy 99, coupled with future light rail access in 2011, makes the city a major transportation hub for the south Puget Sound region. Lakewood Industrial Park spans 170 acres and offers distribution and manufacturing space, and business park facilities. It is a carefully master-planned park setting with boulevards in place, utilities underground, and extensive landscaping throughout. Stina’s Cellars’ new Lakewood address is 9316 Lakeview Avenue Southwest, Suite B. More information about the winery is available on facebook or at www.stinascellars.com