The space vacated by the Union St. Red Apple on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and East Union Street last March has been filled by the discount-retailer Grocery Outlet, which will open its doors on Saturday, Oct. 8.
"This thing is really going to boom," said Steve Mullen, who owns the store with his wife, Debbie. "It's really giving back to the community."
A changing selection
The California-based chain has more than 120 locations on the West Coast, and almost 30 in Washington alone, including stores in Beacon Hill, Burien, Lynnwood and Kent. Specializing in closeout items, Grocery Outlet offers products sold in mainstream supermarkets at substantial discounts.
"We're a clearinghouse for things there's an issue with," said Mullen, who has with 31 years' experience in the retail grocery industry. Grocery Outlet will be the Mullens' first venture as storeowners.
According to Steve Mullen, Grocery Outlet has relationships with more than 2,000 manufacturers. When a company changes the packaging or discontinues a product altogether, Grocery Outlet takes that product and sells it a discount.
Products that might be a couple of weeks away from the expiration date or excess units in a production run that couldn't be sold off to mainstream retailers also end up at Grocery Outlet stores. But freshness is guaranteed, Mullen said, so customers will be able to return products they aren't happy with.
But customers won't know what to expect when they come to a Grocery Outlet because the selection changes all the time, based on what has been discontinued or what is close to its expiration date.
"You have these people who are passionate about shopping here," Mullen said, referring to the other locations he worked at while he was in training to be a storeowner. "It's like they're on an Easter egg hunt."
"Usually, not a month goes by [when] you don't see something you drop your jaw over," he added.
To prove his point, he pointed to three Magnavox DVD players, priced at $29.99 each, sitting on a table near his office. Mullen even had some of the savings on his person, lifting up his foot to show off a pair of Doc Martens leather shoes he got a few months ago for $20.
"You can't tell people this stuff will be here because it'll be gone tomorrow," he said.
A different operation
It's a very different operation from the Red Apple store that closed its doors in March after a six-year struggle. According to Lenny Rose, the owner of that store and three others in the Seattle area that are still open, it was almost cursed from the beginning.
"We had almost a $3 million remodel going in there," he said of the store, which had previously been an independent market called Rogers before he took over the space.
According to Rose, Red Apple lost the financial backing of Associated Grocers Inc., the Seattle-based grocer consortium of which Red Apple is a member, which was supposed to arrange renovations for the store.
Rose had to turn to banks to get the money to remodel. But with only a 15-year lease on the property, the banks didn't believe Rose would have enough time to make back the money he borrowed. So Rose's plans to make the Union St. Red Apple an upscale retailer along the lines of Larry's never panned out.
"Let's face it, it was a very old and ugly store," he said.
And with larger mainstream retailers like Safeway nearby, the smaller Red Apple never stood a chance, Rose said, adding the neighborhood would be better served by a "fresh, organic type of operation," instead of a discount retailer.
Opening day
But Madrona Community Council president William Hanson looks forward to the new business. "Grocery Outlet is basically a niche-type store," he said. "It's probably enough of a niche so they could work out well there."
Since Red Apple closed, Hanson said, the property had been hit with graffiti and litter. He's glad to see that Grocery Outlet has moved in and started making the renovations that the previous store couldn't afford.
"We're hoping that'll improve the corner," said Hanson, who will cut the ribbon on opening day.
According to Mullen, he's done about $1 million in renovations since the company took the lot in May, including putting in a new floor, painting the interior, removing asbestos and landscaping the green areas around the store.
The store will provide about 20 full-time jobs and 10 part-time jobs, with most of the employees hired so far live in the surrounding neighborhood, according to Mullen.
The store will have its grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 8. The store will give a free George Foreman grill to the first 100 customers.
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