It's a Queen Anne story, but it casts a shadow toward Magnolia and any other community that hungers to hold on to its sense of place.
Metropolitan Market on upper Queen Anne, formerly Queen Anne Thriftway, may lose its lease to QFC at the end of next year.
Contrary to Friday's article in the Seattle P-I, it's not a done deal (see page 1 in today's News).
Still, even the possibility is a lump of coal in Queen Anne's stocking.
OK, full disclosure up front: Metropolitan Market is one of the biggest advertisers in the Queen Anne News, associate paper to the Magnolia News. If they do in fact lose their lease and don't relocate in the neighborhood, we at the newspaper will blink, for sure. But we'll soldier on.
But this is about more than just business. It's about community.
Dick Rhodes bought the store in 1971. Rhodes, who died in 2003, not only established an upscale, destination market known for its fresh fish, fruit and flowers, but an engine that would give back to the community.
Rhodes was one of five founders of the Queen Anne Helpline in 1982. Those were tough economic times. The story goes that Rhodes was galvanized to do something about poverty in the neighborhood when he saw some of his older, harder hit customers bringing pet food to the checkout line. Rhodes knew those customers well enough to know they didn't have pets. As creation myths go, this one is true.
The Queen Anne Thriftway/Metropolitan Market link with Queen Anne Helpline has been one of Queen Anne's points of light over the years. Rhodes retired from the business in 1992, but the tradition of community service continued under business partners Terry Halverson, who grew up in the business under Rhodes, and Rhodes' daughter, Melinda Wilker.
The place Queen Anne Thriftway/Metropolitan Market has occupied in Queen Anne is very similar to the role Magnolia Thriftway has played in this community, especially in relation to Magnolia Helpline.
Giving back to the community-meaningfully, effectively-is not something that can be faked.
If the change comes on upper Queen Anne we'll be treated to QFC corporate-speak about the importance of community and all that. QFC, headquartered in Bellevue, is owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., so we'll get to read only the slickest of press releases. But believe me, Queen Anne would be trading, in terms of business passion, personality and community commitment, a full-bodied Beaujolais Village for Near-beer.
Too much of the world is headed in that direction already.
Let's hope, this time next year, we're not counting down the last days of Metropolitan Market on Queen Anne.
And let's not forget-there's still hope.
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