Kitchen & Market, which has three locations in the Seattle area, was founded on a simple idea – how to make planning meals easier. Founder and CEO Stephanie King set about that goal after a long career in private label grocery.
“Instead of just retiring, I opted to put my idea down on paper. I truly did not know if it was going to ever be anything more,” explained King, who went on to take a professional development class to learn how to craft a business plan.
Described as, “If Dean & Deluca and Trader Joe’s made a Blue Apron baby,” King’s idea was more than just a grocery store. She sought to emulate European-style markets’ meal kits with a focus on local, natural and organic ingredients in a holistic corner store space.
She set about opening her first store at 1926 Pike Place Market in spring 2020. Everything was moving along well until the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down and “poof, everything came screeching to a halt.”
“I did pop-up meal kits during COVID, just to see if people liked what my version of dinner was. And they loved it,” she said. “So we never looked back. We just kept going.”
King and her team now use delivery to advertise Kitchen & Market outside of its current areas. “Seattle’s a big city…this is our way of being able to bring Kitchen & Market to neighborhoods that we haven’t yet opened in,” she said.
The meal kits are portioned as needed while maintaining simplicity and flavor. Customers receive everything they need to prepare a meal – including fresh vegetables and fruits and pre-marinated meats – with instructions and pairing suggestions.
“They’re really just a big bag of groceries…the food is really elevated. It’s restaurant quality,” she said.
Meal kits are distributed Tuesdays and Fridays, with different kits available each day. Recipes rotate. Customers can order on Kitchen & Market’s website, choosing delivery or in-store pickup.
Kitchen & Market also features frozen entrees, signature desserts, grab-and-go prepackaged sandwiches and salads and prepared proteins. In addition, the company has its own private label.
Cooking has always been a passion for King, who has had a hand in developing a majority of the recipes. Four women make up the grocer’s corporate office. “If you could even call it that. We do our best,” she said.
Many of the recipes come from classic recipes King would make for her kids when they were growing up. Now, the four women collaborate as a group.
Turning to the future, King said Kitchen & Market has three additional locations “queued up” for development between this year and 2024.
“I love the neighborhoods that we are in and that we’re going to,” she said. “They have just been so enthusiastic. They have embraced Kitchen & Market as their new go-to spot to feed themselves and their families…in my mind, [that] is the ultimate compliment.
“I’ve been actively looking for more locations, because every neighborhood in Seattle wants a Kitchen & Market now.”
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