Island Pacific Supermarket opened a new store Sept. 26 in Federal Way, Washington. The event drew hundreds of families, community leaders and dignitaries, marking a milestone for Island Pacific and the region’s Filipino-American community. The grand-opening celebration featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony, cultural performances and opening weekend promotions. Guests enjoyed giveaways, live entertainment and the unveiling […]
Tag: Washington
Grocers Bracing For Impact Of Largest Tax Hike In WA’s History
Washington is considered one of the most expensive states in the nation when it comes to the cost of gas, housing and healthcare. It has the fourth highest average grocery prices in the country, and 55 percent of residents face food insecurity. And officials from the Washington Food Industry Association note that grocers and consumers […]
NGA, FMS Solutions Partner On Policy, Profit Summits
The National Grocers Association (NGA) has partnered with FMS Solutions for this year’s Executive Conference & Public Policy Summit (Oct. 20-21) and the inaugural FMS Profit Summit (Oct. 22-24), two events featuring sessions focused on policy, technology and profit strategies for independent grocers. “NGA’s Executive Conference & Public Policy Summit has been a must-attend event […]
Tree Top Unveils Brand Refresh, Including New Packaging
Tree Top, a farmer-grown, farmer-owned cooperative and producer of high-quality fruit-based products, has completed a brand refresh that includes updates to its logo and packaging. Known for its apple sauces and juices, the brand’s new look aims to appeal to consumers and stand out on retail shelves. As part of the initiative, Tree Top updated […]
McCain Foods USA Begins Major Expansion In Othello, Washington
McCain Foods USA, an Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois-based supplier of frozen potato and snack food products, has broken ground on a 170,000-s.f. expansion at its Othello, Washington, potato processing facility. This $300 million investment will expand McCain Foods’ North American production capacity through the addition of a state-of-the-art battered and conventional French fry processing line. The […]
Latin Marketplace La Cosecha Opens In Washington, D.C.
On Thursday, Oct. 3, a new Latin marketplace called La Cosecha had a soft opening in Washington, D.C. The 20,000-s.f. cross-cultural marketplace features more than a dozen businesses, from first-to-region restaurants to retail to rotating pop-ups. It is located in the Union Market District. Opening partners in La Cosecha include: • El Cielo—a pop-up of […]
Campbell Soup Co. To Sell Refrigerated Soup Plant In Washington
Campbell Soup Co. has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of its Everett, Washington, refrigerated soup plant to an affiliate of the Joshua Green Corp. (JGC), a Seattle-based private investment company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The 225,000-s.f. Everett facility is part of the fresh division, which includes Bolthouse Farms and Garden Fresh […]
UNFI Plans To Consolidate Five Of Its Distribution Centers
UNFI today revealed plans to optimize its distribution center network in the Pacific Northwest. As part of that optimization, UNFI says it will consolidate five distribution centers into a new 1.2 million-s.f. facility in Centralia, Washington, and a newly expanded, 800,000-s.f. facility in Ridgefield, Washington. UNFI says the new facility and expansion will “enhance customer […]
Kroger And Microsoft Introducing New Digital Solutions For The Retail Industry
The Kroger Co. and Microsoft Corp. are collaborating in an effort to “redefine the customer experience” using Kroger Technology products powered by Microsoft Azure, the retailer’s preferred cloud platform for Retail as a Service (RaaS). Through this partnership, Kroger will pilot a connected store experience and together with Microsoft, jointly market a commercial RaaS product […]
Central Co-op Celebrates Four Decades Of Community Impact
Central Co-op has begun a week-long celebration of its 40th birthday, marking four decades of serving its members and community. Originally founded on Capitol Hill in Seattle as a consumer-co-op, Central first opened its doors on Oct. 16, 1978. Today, the community-owned natural foods co-op is 14,200 members strong, supporting more than 120 employees, 400 […]
PCC Community Markets Commits $1M To PCC Farmland Trust
PCC Community Markets, Seattle’s community-owned food market, is giving a $1 million gift to PCC Farmland Trust, an organization it founded nearly 20 years ago. The gift comes at a time when rising land costs and sprawling development—with more people moving to Pierce and Snohomish counties than anywhere else in the country—are impacting the future of local farming, the company says. PCC’s intends for […]
CBD Water Reaching Store Shelves Through Pepsi Independent Distributors
Oregon-based Xanthic Beverages has unveiled its flagship product, Xanthic CBD Water, intended to be “disruptive for the entire cannabis industry.” CBD Water is produced by a Pepsi independent bottler, and is being distributed now by a network of Pepsi independent distributors in hundreds of retail locations throughout Washington and Oregon. CBD Water contains cannabidiol (CBD) derived from natural […]
URM Launches Its First Exclusive Product Brand—Merchant’s Craft Beverages
Spokane, Washington-based URM Stores is rolling out its first exclusive product brand, Merchant’s Craft. The new brand of beverage products will replace Western Family brand soda, sparkling water and mixers at URM-supplied stores in the Northwest. The official launch date for Merchant’s Craft is June 1, though the products were available at some retail stores […]
Washington Market Profile: Challenges, But Growth, Too
by Lorrie Griffith/editor-West One of the dichotomies in a state like Washington is that while there are major metropolitan areas like Seattle, there also are extremely rural areas. But, of course, both are subject to the same state laws, like the $12 an hour minimum wage that went into effect this year that will go […]
PCC Community Markets Commits To Improving Chicken Welfare
PCC Community Markets (PCC), a Seattle-based community-owned food market, is committing to improve the welfare of chickens raised for meat by meeting the standards of Compassion in World Farming’s Better Chicken Initiative (BCI) and the Joint Animal Protection Organization Statement on Broiler Chicken Welfare. PCC says it is the first retailer in the country to comprehensively address broiler chicken […]
Recommended: Amazon Plans To Open As Many As Six More Go Stores This Year
Amazon’s much-heralded convenience store of the future, Amazon Go, may seem like a crazy experiment. But the company plans to open as many as six more of these storefronts this year, multiple people familiar with the company’s plans have told Recode. Some of the new high-tech stores are likely to open in Amazon’s hometown of […]
URM Stores Continues To Strengthen Its Value Proposition For Retailers
Ray Sprinkle has been at the helm of URM Stores Inc. in Spokane, Washington, for four years now. During that time, the retailer-owned co-op has enjoyed some bright spots, like sales growth and a frozen and refrigerated warehouse expansion, while also weathering some storms, including a data breach. The future looks to be mostly sunny, […]
Central Co-op Returns More Than Half Its Revenue To Local Economy
In celebration of National Co-op Month, Seattle-based Central Co-op has released the results of an economic impact report conducted by Civic Economics, a financial analysis agency, showing the cooperative returns more than 52 percent of its revenue back to the local economy. By comparison, the average U.S. cooperative grocery recirculates 36 percent of its revenue […]
Two New Stores In The Works For PCC Natural Markets
Seattle-based PCC Natural Markets, the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., has two new stores on the drawing board. The first, in Burien, Washington, is expected to open in early 2018. The approximately 20,000-s.f. unit will be located in Five Corners Shopping Center at 15840 1st Avenue South and bring about 100 jobs to […]
Majority Of Industry Commends Trump’s Pick For Top Ag Post
President Donald J. Trump’s nomination of former Georgia Gov. George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue III for Agriculture Secretary is being commended by the majority of the food industry groups and officials. Perdue will oversee a department of about 100,000 employees and about $140 billion across various programs. He also will have a significant role in the […]
