I got another piece of the puzzle of a possible new mystery tenant at the Valley Mall Plaza.

Not that it was much of a mystery. My guess is that it's Ulta, a Chicago-area cosmetics store chain that has been mentioned in the past as a possible new tenant for the mall.

Bill Rathbone, development coordinator for the city of Union Gap, said he’s already issued a building permit for Ulta to do some intital work on the storefront. Another building permit will likely be needed for final tenant improvements.

Ulta is remaining quiet for now. An Ulta spokeswoman told me last week that it had no plans to open any stores in Washington state in 2009.

She also said that the company tends to announce new openings a month or two beforehand and to check back for more new store announcements.

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