TACOMA, Wash. — Residents, local business owners, and state and city leaders are discussing what’s next when the Fred Meyer in Tacoma closes next month.
“This Fred Meyer has been here so long that it is an anchor store. It is its own subculture, it has its own heartbeat and breath,” said a member of the South End Neighborhood Council.
On Thursday, dozens of people showed up for the town hall to find any solutions for those who depend on the Fred Meyer along Pacific Avenue.
“To lose this Fred Meyer, which does more than just food, hurts the whole community,” Sue Potter with Nourish Pierce County.
An employee of the grocery since 1982 was emotional sharing the impact this closure will have.
“Some of our customers have been shopping here since the store opened. Others were shopping here with their parents when they were children,” the employee said.
People tossed around ideas of maybe opening a food co-op, a pharmacy or community center in its place.
Locals say the closure will affect low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities from accessing food and medication.
“I’m worried about the impact it’s going to have to our students,” said Gavin Morga, a teacher at Baker Middle School.
Morga says many of his students rely on walking or taking a short bus ride to the Fred Meyer.
“It’s low-income,” he added. “I’m worrying about the access that our families are going to bring to have just to good food.”
Fred Meyer says crime is a big reason why their Tacoma location is closing.
“Vandalism, things of that nature that I can only imagine Fred Meyer experiencing on it,” said Brett Johnson, owner of Wane + Flitch.
Many residents spoke about the crime rate and are concerned that no new businesses will want to open in its place.
Johnson believes the closure could’ve been prevented.
“I wish that they would have spoke up earlier, because I think their voice in concert with ours probably would have been a little bit more meaningful. And maybe we could have had a resolution that maybe could have,” he said.
The Tacoma Fred Meyer is set to close its doors on Sept. 27.
Just a few weeks after that, locations in Everett, Kent, Lake City and Redmond will do the same.
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