SEATTLE – PCC Community Markets (PCC), one of Seattle’s original grocers and the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., announced it will open its Downtown Seattle location on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. The co-op brings its high product standards to the Downtown community as the neighborhood rebuilds from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents and visitors alike can depend on the co-op for quick grab-and-go items for any meal, as well as a full range of grocery and healthcare needs where fresh, local, seasonal, and sustainable are always top priority.
“We are thrilled to welcome PCC to downtown Seattle. This is an exciting opening for thousands of people who live and work in downtown and it comes at a critical time as we look to welcome more office workers back and more residents call downtown home than ever before,” said Downtown Seattle Association President & CEO Jon Scholes. “PCC and its commitment to community is representative of the spirit of downtown Seattle. Last year they stepped up and provided grants to support food access for area non-profits and now they will be opening their doors to downtown residents and visitors with a terrific neighborhood full-service grocery.”
The co-op kicks off the New Year celebrating the upcoming opening of its 16th location and the ongoing growth of its membership program that now has more than 100,000 members. Anyone can shop at the co-op locations, but members who pay a one-time fee of $60 earn a lifetime membership that offers exclusive access to in-store offers, access to unique events, discounts from like-minded partner businesses, the ability to earn toward a potential annual dividend and the opportunity to guide PCC by voting in the co-op’s Annual Election that determines the Board of Trustees.
Downtown PCC will be led by Store Director Jai San Miguel who joined the co-op in 2020. Jai brings more than 20-years of successful grocery management experience to the co-op and was most recently the Director of the co-op’s Central District location. San Miguel commented, “I am honored to open our newest location where my passion for team-building and supporting our local communities can be a focus every day. As the anchor grocery source for a vibrant Downtown, we are excited to be a part of the revitalization of the neighborhood and are committed to becoming a trusted member of the community where people come to enjoy a cup of coffee, catch up with a friend on a lunch break and pick up dinner.”
The new Downtown location brings with it new job opportunities for the community as well as career growth for existing staff. In fact, 40% of the leadership roles are filled by existing staff who have been promoted to support the new store. PCC partners with UFCW Local 21, who has represented the co-op’s non-management store staff for nearly 40 years.
FROM GRAB & GO FOR EVERY MEAL TO ALL YOUR GROCERY NEEDS
Residents and visitors to the Downtown PCC can trust that the co-op’s shelves are stocked with products made without harmful artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, nanotechnology or synthetic biology. Whenever possible, the co-op sources its products from over 800 local producers, farmers, ranchers, and fishers. Using those same ingredients, PCC chefs make salads, soups, hot entrées and side dishes fresh from scratch daily onsite in the PCC Kitchen. The co-op also has one of the cleanest selections of health and body care products, turning away more than 500 ingredients allowed at other retailers. The co-op’s experienced staff can help in navigating the store that includes a fresh salad bar, hot bar, hot soup bar as well as:
- Made-From-Scratch Deli: A selection of offerings that can be taken to-go:
- PCC Pizzeria for slices and whole pies
- Hot and cold prepackaged favorites to-go like Macaroni and Cheese, Oven Roasted Organic Chicken and a selection of antipasti
- Meals for two that come with a main and a side dish featuring Chipotle Salmon Cakes, Linguine with Meatballs, Parmesan Chicken Fingers and Turkey Meatloaf
- Family-sized salads and ready-to-heat casseroles, including Black Bean Enchiladas and Organic Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Produce: More than 95 percent of PCC’s produce selection is organic and when Downtown PCC opens it will be stocked with in-season citrus ranging from tried-and-true satsumas to cocktail grapefruits, finger limes and even limequats – a cross between a lime and a kumquat.
- Meat and Seafood Selection: Fresh meats at PCC are 100 percent organic, non-GMO or grass fed and the fresh and frozen raw seafood is responsibly sourced as defined by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. The only exception is Chinook salmon, which is sourced according to our more specific PCC Chinook Sourcing Standard.
- Bakery Counter: The self-serve bakery features homemade items like PCC’s scratch-made chocolate chip cookies and fresh-baked scones.
- PCC’s Private-Label Collection: Enjoy 12 product lines sourced from local producers like PCC Organic Chocolate from K’UL Chocolate in Bellingham, Wash. and PCC Organic Pastured Eggs from Wilcox Farms in Roy, Wash., as well as nearly 200 supplements and vitamins produced with the highest quality standards and packaged in recyclable brown glass to stay fresh.
- Selection of Bulk Foods: The smart and sustainable way to get – and pay – for exactly what you need with PCC’s bulk selection encompassing everything from flours, rice and nuts.
- Field Day Staples with PCC Standards: The co-op offers this affordable line of certified organic and Non-GMO Project Verified pantry staples including more than 150 items from canned beans and extra virgin olive oil to peanut butter and oatmeal.
- Wine, Beer and Spirits: The co-op features a carefully curated selection of 100% Pacific Northwest-produced spirits to complement its collection of exclusive wines and local beers and ciders.
DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS AND CULTURE
PCC stores work with local food banks to extend food access programming in support of the communities served. In working with the Downtown community to best understand how to meet their needs, the co-op adjusted its food access programming by creating a new Downtown Seattle Food Access Grant. The recipients were announced last year, with the following six recipients receiving $5,000 grants to address food insecurity through the purchase of organic goods: Asian Counseling and Referral Service, Northwest Harvest’s SODO Community Market, Pike Place Market Foundation, Pike Market Senior Center and Food Bank, Puget Sound Labor Agency Food Bank and Seattle Indian Health Board.
The co-op also recently unveiled that the new store will feature house posts carved by Andrea M. Wilbur-Sigo, a member Squaxin Island Tribe. Her work, titled “The Way of Life” was created to convey the connection between people and the environment. PCC works with local artists to create works that represent each store location, elevate shopper spirits, and provoke thought and conversation. That work is an important component of meeting the requirements of the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal-Certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the world’s most rigorous green building standard. This location is PCC’s fourth store to pursue Petal Certification. Other green store elements at Downtown PCC include sustainably sourced, nontoxic building materials, reclaimed materials from other PCC stores, and high efficiency electrical and plumbing systems.
The new Downtown location will adopt all the co-op’s health and safety protocols to provide a safe shopping environment for staff, members and shoppers. The approximately 20,000-square-foot store is located in Rainier Square at 1320 4th Ave. and will open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, January 19.
About PCC Community Markets
Founded in Seattle in 1953, PCC Community Markets (PCC) is a certified organic retailer and the nation’s largest community-owned food market with an active membership of more than 100,000 members. With an unmatched enthusiasm for making food from scratch, PCC is a haven for those who share a dedication to fresh, organic, seasonal food that is sustainably sourced from over 800 local producers, farmers, ranchers and fishers.
The co-op’s mission is to ensure that good food nourishes the communities it serves, while cultivating vibrant, local, organic food systems. PCC operates 16 stores in the Puget Sound area, including the cities of Bellevue, Bothell, Burien, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle. Seattle stores are in the neighborhoods of Ballard, Central District, Columbia City, Downtown, Fremont, Green Lake, View Ridge and West Seattle. The co-op also plans to open new stores in Madison Valley and relocate its Kirkland location.
