For Reedies unsatisfied with Safeway as a source of sustenance, New Seasons, the locally owned grocery store featuring organic and healthy foods, will soon make itself at home in the Woodstock community. Say goodbye to the Wood Pro Beauty Center, the Woodstock Wellness Center, and Putter’s Bar & Grill, because the New Seasons construction will begin in July 2014. The new store expects to open on August 10, 2015.
The site for this new grocery store lies between 45th and 46th Ave. on Woodstock. The construction plan envisions a 25,000 square foot store with three floors. Other features include a rooftop deck with a dining area, covered bike parking, and an underground parking lot that will hold up to 56 cars.
While many people may be looking forward to having New Seasons on Woodstock, the arrival of this new grocery store raises questions regarding the fate of the establishments it will be replacing. Though New Seasons has already bought these properties, the co-owner of Putter’s Bar & Grill released a statement that New Seasons has renewed the bar’s lease until May. Once demolition begins, Putter’s Bar & Grill hopes to find a site close by so they can stay in the Woodstock area. Though this may be a sad moment for the three establishments being replaced, New Seasons expects to create 150 jobs and aims to employ as many people as possible from nearby neighborhoods.
New Seasons opened its first store in 2000 here in Portland. It has since grown and has opened a total of 12 locations in the larger Portland Metro Area—the Woodstock location will be the thirteenth. New Seasons is also the first grocer in the world to become a certified B Corporation, a form of corporation dedicated not only to making profit, but also engaging in efforts that help society and the environment. Every year, New Seasons commits to donating 10 percent of its after-tax profits to nonprofit organizations engaged in efforts confronting issues of hunger, education, and the environment.
The upcoming arrival of New Seasons is not the only big change that the Reed community can expect in the near future—TriMet plans to extend the MAX Light Rail to SE Bybee, within walking distance of Reed, by 2015. All of these new developments may lead to a radical transformation of the small Southeast hub that many Reedies call home.