PCC Community Markets Expands Its Horizons to the Eastside with New Bellevue Location

Greater Seattle’s community-owned food market continues growth to meet Puget Sound shoppers’ appetite for fresh, local, organic, sustainably sourced and seasonal food

(SEATTLE, June 1, 2018) – PCC Community Markets (PCC), the largest community-owned food market in the U.S. and one of Seattle’s original grocers, today announced plans for a new store in Bellevue, Wash. Located in the Bellevue South project, at the southeast corner of N.E. 4th St. and 116th Ave. N.E., the approximately 25,000-square-foot store will open in 2020 and bring more than 100 union jobs to the surrounding community.

Bellevue will be the co-op’s fourth Eastside location, joining its long-established Kirkland, Issaquah and recently remodeled Redmond stores. The Bellevue project is one of several announced this year for the local, independent grocer, including Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood (2019) and Downtown Seattle (2020). PCC will also open a Madison Valley store in 2020 and reopen its West Seattle store in 2019; the co-op welcomed shoppers to the Burien PCC on May 23, 2018. In total, the co-op will grow from 11 stores today to 16 stores by 2020.

“Bellevue holds a special place in our region’s food history dating back to the 1800s when the town, rich with orchards, vegetable patches and berry farms, provided fresh produce to the rapidly growing city of Seattle,” said Cate Hardy, PCC Community Markets CEO. “That same love of fresh food cultivated by local producers is what feeds our co-op, literally and figuratively.”

The Bellevue PCC is just down the hill from the Eastside Rail Corridor Trail and will feature the PCC Taqueria; made-from-scratch pizza; daily-made grab-and-go sandwiches; freshly baked scones, biscuits and other pastries; and full-service meat and seafood. In addition to beer, wine and ciders, Bellevue PCC also will carry a carefully curated selection of local craft spirits, hand-selected by Seattle Magazine’s 2017 Wine Steward of the Year.

As with PCC’s other locations, the Bellevue store will celebrate products that are fresh, local, organic, sustainably sourced and seasonal. More than 95 percent of PCC’s produce selection is organic; its meats are 100 percent organic, non-GMO or grass fed; its seafood is sustainably sourced adhering to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch standards; and, whenever possible, the co-op sources its products from 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.

In addition to attentive and knowledgeable staff, PCC has among the highest product standards in the country. The co-op stocks its shelves with products made without harmful artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, nanotechnology or synthetic biology. It also has one of the cleanest selections of health and body care products, turning away more than 500 ingredients allowed at other retailers.

As a community-owned organization, PCC is dedicated to returning a healthy share of its profits back to the neighborhoods in which it operates. In 2017, PCC gave nearly 50 percent of after-tax earnings to members and returned more than 10 percent to the communities it serves. With the opening of the Bellevue store, PCC also will expand its food bank initiative, grocery rescue programs, local donations and school fundraising to the Bellevue area.

The Bellevue PCC will join three other Eastside PCC locations that have helped the co-op grow – not just its financial results, but also its social and environmental impact. The Kirkland PCC was the co-op’s second store when it opened in 1978 and a vital step toward growing community ownership. In 2006, the Redmond PCC opened and became the first grocery store in the nation to earn LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for exceptional design, construction and operation of a “green” building. PCC also operates a store in Issaquah, where it’s been an active member of the community since 1999.

Seattle-based MG2 is the architect of record for the new Bellevue PCC store. The developer is KG Investment Properties and the general contractor is Woodman Construction, Inc.

About PCC Community Markets

Founded in Seattle in 1953, PCC Community Markets (PCC) is the nation’s largest community-owned food market with an unmatched enthusiasm for making food from scratch. Celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2018, PCC is a haven for those who share a dedication to fresh, organic seasonal food that is sustainably sourced from local producers, farmers, ranchers and fishers. With an active membership of more than 60,000 households, PCC operates 11 stores in the Puget Sound area, including the cities of Bothell, Burien, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle. Seattle stores are in the neighborhoods of Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, View Ridge and West Seattle, which will reopen in 2019. The co-op also plans to open new stores in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 2019 and Madison Valley and Downtown Seattle in 2020.

In 2017, PCC returned 57% of its profit to members and contributed an additional 11% to the communities it serves, including schools and nonprofits around the Puget Sound area such as the PCC Farmland Trust and FareStart. For more information, visit: Facebook and Instagram.

Media contact

Laura Ray on Behalf of PCC Community Markets
laura@lauraraypr.com
206-715-4888