Central Co-op Celebrates Opening Day of Tacoma Store

Central Co-op is kicking off the opening of its Tacoma store with a week-long celebration starting with opening day on Saturday, June 15, 2019. The official opening of the Tacoma store brings a grocery store back to Tacoma’s West End Neighborhood at North Pearl and 46th Street.

The opening day will begin with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting and special guests including Rep. Jake Fey. Saturday’s opening day festivities will continue with a parking lot celebration including a range of local vendors to sample, face painters, games and giveaways, live music, and pygmy goats. There will also be discounts throughout the week in the Tacoma and Seattle stores starting with 20% off all fresh produce on Saturday, June 15 and ending with 20% off all bulk foods on June 22.

“We are overjoyed to be opening the doors of our new Tacoma store,” said Central Co-op CEO Catherine Willis Cleveland. “This celebration feels like the culmination of all the input from our community and hard work from our Tacoma store team. I am so proud of the store that we have built together and I think that our members and neighbors will be delighted with it – from the Washington producers on our shelves to the space for people to enjoy a meal together on our wrap-around porch!”

Local producers featured in the Tacoma store will include: Wild Hare Organic Farm, Rainbow Cloud Kombucha, Ice Cream Social, Peace Love and Raw, Mountain Muesli, and more.

The Pearl Street store emphasizes fresh foods with a large produce department, featuring organic produce and offerings from area farms. The deli features items made in-house including a taqueria, grab-and-go meals, and a hot bar. The new store also has a fresh meat and seafood department. Another emphasis of the store, and the historical cornerstone of the Co-op’s offering, is a complete bulk department that offers a wide variety of products like grains, spices, coffee, oils and honey, and fresh-ground nut butters.

In addition to these offerings and a normal selection of grocery items, members and customers will also find an extensive health and wellness section, deli seating, and a wrap-around porch. The building on N. Pearl St. was originally home to a grocery store, but has been a thrift store for many years. The opening of the Co-op in this spot returns a full-service grocery store to the neighborhood.

“We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on opening day and over the coming weeks,” said Tacoma Store Director Victor Fontaine. Fontaine worked at the 6^th Avenue store before its closure. “This is a homecoming for the community members who shopped at the grocery store here years ago, and a place to make new memories and try delicious local products for everyone in Tacoma. We hope everyone comes to check out what we have to offer.”

To read more about the Tacoma store opening events visit: www.centralcoop.coop/tacoma-store.

About Central Co-op

Originally founded on Seattle’s Capitol Hill in 1978, and merged with the Tacoma Food Co-op in 2015, Central Co-op is a community-owned natural foods cooperative. A complete grocery store dedicated to sustainable practices and the Washington food economy, Central Co-op features organic produce, humanely raised meat and wild seafood, a large selection of bulk goods and herbs, an extensive health and wellness section and unique gifts. Through their Co-op Basics program, the Co-op offers over 250 everyday items at especially low prices and offers 10% off to those receiving government assistance twice a week, through their Healthy Community Program. Central Co-op follows a solidarity model with both worker and consumer ownership. Open to everyone seven days a week, Central Co-op has more than 14,000 active owners. The Co-op celebrated their 40^th Anniversary in 2018 and was recognized by the City of Seattle for economic benefits to the community through their wages and benefits package, support for Washington producers, and sponsorships and donations to local non-profits. In 2019, Central Co-op won Chinook Book’s Heart of Seattle award, and was recognized by Sustainable Seattle with a Sustainability Leadership Award. More information is available at www.centralcoop.coop.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190614005058/en/

Samantha Leeds
415-342-9923
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