PCC Community Markets Downtown Seattle Location to Open in Early 2022

In commitment to community, co-op introduces new Downtown Seattle Food Access Grant to provide $25K to nonprofits serving the area this year

(SEATTLE, June 9, 2021) – PCC Community Markets (PCC), one of Seattle’s original grocers and the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., announced it is shifting the opening of its Downtown Seattle store to early 2022. In an effort to support the Downtown Seattle community now, PCC is also announcing a new Downtown Seattle Food Access Grant offering five grants totaling $25K to nonprofits focused on food access. The co-op will begin accepting applications on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 and the grants will be awarded later this summer. Last year, PCC donated 1.7 million pounds of food and product to 40 grocery rescue partners in its efforts to make high-quality, organic, local food accessible to more people.

“PCC is committed to helping build back a vibrant and healthy Downtown,” said PCC CEO and President, Suzy Monford. “When Downtown PCC opens in 2022, it will bring the neighborhood local, organic and sustainably sourced food. But we know that it is critical to address the growing food insecurity in our community now, and we are excited to offer our new food access grant program to support our Downtown neighbors.”

Monford continued, “We greatly appreciate the ongoing support from Wright Runstad & Company and we remain optimistic about the future of Seattle.”

As PCC opens new locations, each store partners with a food bank to extend food access programming in support of the communities served. In planning for the new Downtown location over the past year, PCC met with multiple food banks, meal agencies and community groups to best understand their needs. Two themes became clear: the need for emergency food services has never been greater and COVID-19 continues to disrupt traditional food access operations. To meet the current needs of these organizations, PCC has created a new food grant to best serve the Downtown community. More details about the program, including how to apply, can be found here.

“The pandemic has hit our Downtown community particularly hard,” said Rachel Smith, President and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. “PCC has a rich tradition of supporting our Seattle neighborhoods with their food access programs and the new Downtown Seattle Food Access Grant comes at a pivotal time to help serve our community.”

PCC’s Downtown Seattle store will occupy 20,000 square feet in Wright Runstad’s Rainier Square project. Located on the block between Union and University and Fourth and Fifth in the heart of Seattle, the store will serve the Downtown, Belltown, West Edge, Pioneer Square and First Hill neighborhoods, and bring about 100 new union jobs to the surrounding community.

“While we were excited for PCC to join the Downtown community this year, we appreciate the co-op being forthright with this announcement and look forward to the eventual opening,” said Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes. “We recognize the challenges posed to all businesses at this time and value PCC stepping up to support downtown through the newly created grant program this year.”

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 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. With an active membership of more than 90,000 households, PCC operates 15 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, Fremont, Green Lake, View Ridge and West Seattle. The co-op also plans to open new stores in Downtown Seattle and Madison Valley and relocate its Kirkland location.

In 2020, PCC gave more than 60% of pretax earnings to members and the communities it serves. This includes the co-op’s first-ever member dividend and support of nonprofits around the Puget Sound area such as Ventures, Washington Farmland Trust and FareStart.