We’re asking customers to share what they love about their local natural products store. This month, the spotlight shines on one shopper’s experience at PCC Community Markets location at 2749 California Ave., in Seattle.
Wally, the Lavine family pup, relaxes next to the PCC Community Markets sign in Seattle, WA.
“I’ve been a loyal PCC member since I moved to Seattle almost 20 years ago,” says Anita Lavine, Vice President at Porter Novelli and regular PCC shopper. PCC is a large member-owned co-op, she explains, so when her neighborhood co-op was closed for rebuilding, Lavine and her family were able to shop at other nearby PCC locations.
“PCC is also walkable to our house, so it’s the first store that my kids were able to go to on a solo shopping outing—and of course they came back with bakery treats and freeze dried strawberries,” she shares. “We often go on foot or by bike. Not only do we get to support the co-op, but we get the secondary satisfaction of knowing that the produce, dairy, meat, fish and many other products come from local farms and families as well.”
PCC started as a 15 member food-buying club in 1953, and became a consumer cooperative called Puget Consumers Co-op, or PCC, in 1961. Today, there are 13 locations in Seattle, and four on the way. The co-op has plans to open new stores in Bellevue, Madison Valley, Seattle’s Central District, and Downtown Seattle. While the store offers traditional benefits of a co-op, PCC also offers 21st century perks consumers are looking for.
“PCC has been able to bridge the need to modernize and offer shoppers more convenience with things like grain bowl and taqueria bars or delivery through Instacart, while staying true to their roots and the beliefs on which the co-op was founded working with local purveyors and offering the best in organic goods,” says Lavine. “It’s a win-win for customers who want to feel connected to the store and good about what they’re buying and supporting.”
PCC also invests in the local community, which is important to Lavine. The large-scale co-op sponsors plenty of organizations and events, from packing parties at our local foodbank to an organization called Neighborhood House’s culinary fundraisers to summer festivals across Seattle neighborhoods, she says. “Being able to support local shopping is something I feel pretty passionate about.”
The editorial team at WholeFoods Magazine has decades of experiences reporting on natural products industry news, trends, and more. This national, monthly business-to-business magazine has been published continuously for nearly 40 years (the magazine was founded in 1977, and has been owned by Wainer Finest Communications since 1984). It is the longest-tenured media outlet of its kind in the natural products industry. The editorial focus at WholeFoods Magazine is, and always has been, on informing and educating members of the natural products industry.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
