Downtown Yakima Greyhound bus depot to close

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The Greyhound bus depot, a fixture on Yakima Avenue downtown for more than 50 years, will close next week and reopen inside a Fruitvale Boulevard mini-mart.

Customers will be able to buy tickets 24 hours a day at the new office in the Arco ampm mini-mart at 3922 Fruitvale Blvd., said Greyhound spokesman Timothy Stokes in Cincinnati.

The company said the move will improve service because the market offers food around the clock and the freeway is nearby.

Greyhound owns the building at 602 East Yakima Ave. and will sell it after the move, Stokes said. He was not able to provide additional details about the closure or what consumers can expect at the mini-mart.

Officials with ampm could not be reached for comment.

The move comes years after the bus system in 2004 discontinued stops in 20 small towns throughout the state.

In the Yakima Valley alone, stops in Toppenish, Wapato, Grandview, Prosser and Goldendale were canceled. Also eliminated were Blaine, Camas, Castle Rock, Cle Elum, Connell, Fort Lewis, George, Lyle, North Bonneville, Prosser, Richland, Ritzville, Skamania, Snoqualmie Pass, Walla Walla and Washougal.

Greyhound, based in Dallas, closed a total of 260 stops in small towns between Chicago and Seattle to cut costs and focus more on profitable lines. The closures left only 99 stops in its 13-state northern region.