On Tuesday, North Seattle learned that the Fred Meyer on Lake City Way Northeast at Northeast 130th Street is slated for closure by its parent company, Kroger.
At first glance, this may appear to be just another business decision in a shifting retail landscape. But for those of us on the front lines of human services, and for the thousands of Seattle residents we serve as one of the only food banks open on Saturdays, this closure is not just inconvenient. It is catastrophic.
You may wonder why a food bank is concerned about the closure of a grocery store. North Helpline serves over 13,600 unique individuals annually at two food banks in North Seattle’s Lake City and Bitter Lake neighborhoods. We work every day to support individuals facing food insecurity, seniors living on fixed incomes and working parents trying to provide nutritious meals on limited budgets. When our neighbors visit us, they frequently stop into the Fred Meyer to pick up additional staples that we were unable to provide that day. The closure of the Lake City Fred Meyer threatens to make all of this harder.
Once this store closes, there will no longer be a full-service grocery store within walking distance or a reasonable bus ride for many residents of our community. This will affect families without access to a vehicle and those whose time and money are already stretched thin. The closure will effectively transform Lake City into a food desert, a term used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to describe areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.
The implications are not abstract. When fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats and dairy are no longer accessible, families are forced to rely on convenience stores or fast-food options. These are often higher in sodium, sugar and fat, contributing to a rise in chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, conditions we already see far too frequently in our client base. Beyond physical health impacts, a 2024 University of Washington study found that stress, anxiety and depression were more common among food-insecure households, with 84% of such households reporting high stress.
The closure of the Lake City Fred Meyer represents far more than the loss of a grocery store. It will deepen inequities and create lasting harm by leaving families without access to fresh foods and household essentials, and by eliminating one of the last remaining pharmacies in the neighborhood. As a community service provider, we see firsthand how fragile access to basic necessities can be for our neighbors. Without this anchor store, the well-being of thousands of residents will be in jeopardy.
