Two Local Grocery Stores Open

I mentioned a month ago that I would write occasionally on news stories especially those locally so here goes. I decided today to write about two grocery stores that opened in Gig Harbor yesterday Feb.3.

We had three grocery stores for many years in the Gig Harbor area however one closed for bankruptcy just before Thanksgiving 2015 and the other remodel temporary closing in October. It made grocery shopping pretty crazy for a little more than two months having one remaining store. I won’t go into much detail about the bankruptcy because it is now history.

The store that closed for bankruptcy was Haggen’s which corporate headquarters is out of Bellingham, Washington. Now the store in the same location is Safeway. I am sure a lot of people are familiar with them. Safeway actually was in the same location however because of a merger they were called to sell the store and it did not work out so now they are back. I did not go into the store yet because I figure things likely are the same.

The other store being remodeled was QFC however they changed the name to Main and Vine. The reason for the change of name the corporate company Kroeger decided they wanted to try something new so I did go in to see what was new. You see Main and Vine is what many of the QFC stores will change to if things here workout. Other words this is a test market for Kroeger.

Main and Vine will continue with the standard groceries that QFC have had for many years however decided to go with some new local flavor. One of the local coffee shops has a new location in the store as well as a local microbrew. They have added in a salad bar similar to Safeway however they have servers to help you instead of serving yourself. It is nice because you don’t have to worry about getting other people’s germs. Also, you can order sandwiches and pizza. They still continue having a deli and added a buffet. Being the grand opening the place was very full of people so I did not see everything going on I will go back again in a few days when needing to buy more groceries to see more of their new things. Another thing they are doing is serving produce from a local farm. So Main and Vine is looking to at being a new kind of grocery store. Safeway and Fred Meyer the other store that had stayed open during this period of closer I am sure will make changes according to the popularity of Main and Vine. So grocery shopping in Gig Harbor may never be the same again. It will be interesting to see how things go for sure.

Another thing to add right now Fred Meyer is building another larger store. It is estimated to open either later this year or early 2017. Not sure what will happen to the existing store. Gig Harbor stills a small town however big in groceries.