The windows are covered up, but Cathy Wheaton is working inside the new Silverdale Total Wine & More, and she sees you trying to take a peek.

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls, a lot of interest,” said Wheaton, assistant manager of the next store to open at The Trails at Silverdale. “We’ve had tons of people walking up and looking in the door, and at the chalkboard right outside.”

The wait is over for your new Total Wine & More, where we’ll uncover the windows and open the doors Thursday and welcome the community with a flurry of Grand Opening celebrations. The store is unlike any other in the Pacific Northwest.

Step inside, and you’ll see miles of aisles stocked with more than 8,000 wines, 3,000 spirits and 2,500 beers from around the world. There’s a team of expertly trained specialists to lend you a hand. And right inside the front door is something really special: long shelves displaying the “Best of Washington,” a bountiful selection of Washington-made wines, artisanal spirits and hearty beers that show off the skill of the state’s winemakers, distillers and brewers.

We open Thursday, March 10, at 9 a.m., and will have special events going on all weekend. Stop by for tastings (starting at 4 p.m.) featuring Caymus, Camaraderie Cellars, River Road, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Heritage Distilling, Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Silver City Brewery and more.

Shop with us March 10-13, and we’ll donate a portion of our sales to support the Kitsap Great Give on May 3, a day of giving produced by the Kitsap Community Foundation and the United Way. That’s just the first way Total Wine & More hopes to give back to the community that’s giving us such a warm welcome.

“We’ll be going out and working with the community,” said Wheaton, whose previous volunteer efforts have ranged from highway cleanup to releasing baby salmon raised in local classrooms.

“We have a really good team, all from the community, and all very diverse in their backgrounds,” she added. “Some have a tremendous amount of wine knowledge” – including one staffer who once ran an area specialty wine shop – “and some are very smart about spirits and beer. I love that we’re going to get to know all the customers, and they’re going to get to know us!”

Come say hello to Cathy and coworkers during our Grand Opening celebrations at The Trails at Silverdale, 11066 Pacific Crest Place NW. We’ll be posting to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media channels, so join us there, too, and share your Grand Opening impressions with us using #totalwineGO.

Check out our website for more information on upcoming events and tastings at the Silverdale store.