PCC Community Markets to Open Relocated Kirkland Store on March 2, 2022

Co-op’s second store shifts location, maintains commitment to community and sustainability efforts

(SEATTLE, February 9, 2022) – PCC Community Markets (PCC), one of Seattle’s original grocers and the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., announced today that it will open its relocated Kirkland store on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The new store is less than a mile away from where the co-op opened its second location back in 1978. Located at 430 Kirkland Way, the new store is 30 percent larger than the old location at approximately 19,000 square feet allowing the co-op to offer even more of its organic, fresh, local, seasonal and sustainable products.

“Our team is so excited to be moving just down the road to our new location in downtown Kirkland, and to be able to share our beautiful store with new and longtime members and shoppers, alike,” said Mike Stampalia, Kirkland PCC Store Director. “We have been bringing local, organic and healthy foods to the Kirkland community for over 40 years and now we will be able to offer even more choices at our new location. This will be a special place located right next to the Kirkland Performing Arts Center, Transit Center, swimming pool and playfields that will allow us to serve Kirkland for another 40-plus years to come.”
 

Longstanding Community Connections

In the co-op’s commitment to support its local communities, Kirkland PCC has been working with Kirkland Hopelink and Community Resource Network (CRN) for more than 15 years through PCC’s Food Bank Program. This program has been helping co-op food bank partners across the region attain nutritious foods for over three decades. PCC partners with nearly 50 local food banks and nonprofits – including Hopelink and CRN – who each play a critical role in the Puget Sound region’s emergency food system. Since 2018 (when PCC began tracking), Kirkland PCC has donated approximately 400,000 meals to Kirkland Hopelink and CRN.

“PCC has been an amazing partner in helping us achieve our goals to support our neighbors in Kirkland,” said Debbie Fought, CRN volunteer. “It’s through the support from PCC and others in our community that we are able to distribute food to those who face high barriers to acquiring safe and healthy food, including isolated senior citizens, differently abled individuals, immigrant families and people experiencing immediate crisis.”
 

Sustainably Designed and Operated

PCC’s new Kirkland store is the 5^th co-op location to pursue the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal-Certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the world’s most rigorous green building standard.  To meet these standards, and in alignment with the co-op’s vision to inspire and advance the health and well-being of people, their communities and our planet, PCC took many steps that included:

• Recycled & Repurposed: Many of the store fixtures that hold the co-op’s high-standard products were built with recycled materials and repurposed equipment from other PCC stores when possible, including shelving, racks, tables and even an ice machine.
• Reduced Energy: The new store was designed to have more than three times the amount of windows – from just over 400 square feet to now more than 1,400 square feet – which brings in more natural daylight and significantly reduces indoor lighting energy use.
• Low-Impact Refrigeration: The new Kirkland store joins the co-op’s Ballard, West Seattle and Bellevue locations in using a carbon dioxide refrigeration system, which boasts 3,000 times less of a global warming potential than the synthetic refrigerants used in most grocery stores. PCC continually works to reduce refrigerant leaks across its stores and will begin to phase out high-impact refrigerants at older stores with lower impact and climate-friendly alternatives. Of the approximately 38,000 supermarket locations in the U.S., less than 2% of existing stores use natural refrigerants (like a carbon dioxide system) exclusively*.

In addition to these features, late last year, PCC previewed that the store will feature five columns with hand-glazed ceramic tiles in the store’s seating area by artist Mary Iverson representing “World Tablecloths.” This work celebrates the unique cultural diversity of Kirkland, helps the co-op meet the beauty requirements of LBC Petal Certification and aims to inspire and spark discussions.
 

Products you Can Trust

In meeting PCC’s mission to ensure good food nourishes the communities it serves, the store will continue to offer the Kirkland community 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 relocated Kirkland store will adopt all the co-op’s health and safety protocols to provide a safe shopping environment. The new location will open to members and shoppers at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 2 and rounds out the co-op’s Eastside presence with other locations in Bellevue, Issaquah and Redmond.

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 a new store in Madison Valley.