PCC is bringing its grocery market back to downtown Seattle. Will hungry tech workers follow?
PCC Community Markets announced Friday that it is returning to the base of the Seattle skyscraper it left in January. It’s also relocating its corporate headquarters office to the same space.
The grocer will open a smaller-format store at 1320 4th Ave., in the high-profile 58-story Rainier Square building.
PCC previously had a full-format store at the location but decided to shut that down last year, citing a lower number of office workers in the downtown core. The company said the store underperformed and was unprofitable.
Downtown Seattle averaged more than 90,000 workers per weekday last month — just 62% of the traffic seen in July 2019, according to the Downtown Seattle Association. Seattle lags most other U.S. cities as measured by foot traffic in the new hybrid work world.
The departure of PCC reflected that trend, as companies from tech and other industries allow their employees to work from home. Worker foot traffic has appeared to level off over the past year as companies settle into their hybrid work policies.
PCC said it is contractually obligated to its long-term lease at the downtown location and worked with its landlord on the new store design, a 6,500 square-foot space that will feature hot and prepared foods, along with a limited selection of grocery and pantry items.
PCC will also use the remaining space as an office for its corporate workers starting next year, relocating from its existing office on Elliott Avenue near the waterfront.
PCC CEO Krish Srinivasan said in a press release that the office move will be “saving PCC unnecessary rent expense and placing our office in a space that more closely aligns with our values as a co-op.”
Perhaps having a solid lunch option nearby will draw more workers into the downtown core — if their companies still have office space, that is.
Overall office space vacancy rates in downtown Seattle surpassed 32% in the first quarter of this year, according to Colliers, which expects that number to increase. A report in July from JLL said that “active demand continues to be far overshadowed by available supply” in the broader Seattle area office market.
Amazon originally planned to occupy 30 floors in the Rainier Square building. But it backed out of that plan in 2019 following a heated tax battle with city leaders.
The tech giant last year mandated employees back to the office three days per week, which has helped boost the businesses around its office buildings in South Lake Union and the Denny Triangle near downtown Seattle.
The City of Seattle announced last month that it will increase the required number of days for in-office work for executive branch employees from two days to three starting this fall. The move will impact more than 13,000 workers.
PCC announced plans for the downtown store in 2018 and opened it in 2022 after pandemic-related delays. The store is located in an area of downtown that lacks many grocery store options.
Srinivasan, a former Remitly and Amazon exec, said last month that PCC’s overall sales in the second quarter this year beat expectations. PCC operates 15 other stores in the Seattle region.