My fascination with Grocery Stores started in California in the 1990s. There was a store there my sister took me to as a “treat.” I had owned a restaurant by that time so food was near and dear to my heart.
Let me say this about grocer’s up to this point. It was all meat and potatoes, with some fish and canned goods. Produce was over in the corner. Safeway was cheaper than the other place, but they were kind of the same. QFC, Quality Food Centers was the nicer place, but it was all groceries.
This place in California was set up for people who cook. It was a Sur La Table meets Pacific Food Importers. There were olives in the bin, cook ware, produce, spices in burlap sacks, pastas, a meat and fish markets, all in a very nice setting of glass and chrome. There was a seating area above the pastry displays that had a walking bridge across the middle of the store so you could look down and see everything.
There was a place in Seattle that was trying to go that direction called Thriftway. It wasn’t different than the open spacious place that was in California. As a matter of fact is was kind of cramped with low lighting and high narrow aisles. It just tried to carry a whole bunch of other stuff in addition to the meat and potatoes. It was a part of the Associated Grocers which is a group of stores combining purchasing power.
One day, when I was out in Bothell, north of Seattle, and pretty much out of the way, I saw a tall glass fronted building that said Olsen’s. It was light and bright and tall. The aisles were wide, there was a full deli, vats of olives, and fresh bread. When you looked to the right, past the fresh flowers there was a huge produce stand with racks of wine as a back drop. Along the back wall was the side by side Fish and Meat markets. There were fourteen kinds of Olive Oil and a section that looked like a De Laurentis in the Pike Place Market. It was so beautifully I took some out of town guests there once for lunch. It was worth the drive.
This was a period of great transformation of grocery stores here in Seattle. There were the Larry’s Market, and couple of more Olsen’s. QFC an Safeway started getting more upscale. The deli cases got fuller and Safeway started selling Chinese Food from the buffet line. The ultimate game changer was when the Queen Anne Thriftway became a Metropolitan Market.
It was down right fancy. Then one opened near Sand Point and I thought it was a new California chain store. It was like what I remembered from that first place my sister took me to as a treat.
Metropolitan markets are actually a local success story. This is truly a neighborhood business that employees people here, pays the taxes here, and has the ownership here. I’ve included a couple of links below to tell you more about the company, and owner. Please consider that a local business may charge you little more, but you are doing something for your community by keeping your dollars here.
http://www.seattledining.com/ARCHIVE/grocery/Metropolitan_Market.htm
