Deep breath, it's time to shop for groceries. But where?
Costco? Walmart? One of the local Kroger outlets (Fred Meyer or QFC)? Albertson's or its awkward sibling, Safeway? Whole Foods? The Amazon duo, Go and Fresh? Metropolitan Market? Trader Joe's? A discounter like Grocery Outlet? A wholesaler like Cash & Carry? An indie like Ballard Market? The neighborhood farmers market? Or even the granddaddy of them all, the Pike Place Market?
Two more options have just arrived. New Seasons Market just opened its second store (after Mercer Island) in the region, and longtime stalwart PCC (rebranding itself as PCC Community Markets) opened its latest store this week in Burien.
PCC got its start as Puget Consumers Coop decades ago when a dozen or so families got together to pool their buying power. It has grown to a dozen stores and (get this) some 60,000 members who have paid a one-time fee of $60 to join. Members receive a 5% discount, so a family that spends $100 a month at their neighborhood PCC recoups the cost of membership in the first year. (Additional details here.) Prices are comparable to other mid-to-upper end chains, plenty of organic produce, a deal with the folks at Baywater Sweet oysters, another with a farm (Pure Èire Dairy in Othello, Wash.) that provides yogurt from grass-fed cows.
More meal-kit news in the meantime. Kroger has bought Home Chef for 200 million simoleons.
As has become part of the marketing for supermarkets these days, New Seasons goes to great lengths to identify as a "local" company (it's based in Portland); beef, lamb, turkey, pork, and chickens are all locally sourced.
Don't have a car? You can get your groceries delivered. Don''t know how to cook? There are classes. Lazy? Almost every grocery store nowadays sells meal kits. (Granted, you have to fix the meal yourself.) If all else fails, just remember that there are 3,000 restaurants in Seattle alone.
Leave a comment