Bellevue, WA 54°F
Photos Courtesy of Shea Andersen
Bellevue has a new one-stop shop that’s sure to please earth lovers, busy parents and pro-local shoppers alike. Your Local Market, a new grocery store focused on natural and local foods, opened on Nov. 11 at the corner of 4th and Bellevue Way NE. The store aims to make grocery shopping simple and friendly and boasts innovative shopping options and a carefully calculated product mix.
Founders Jason Brown and Michael Johnson were looking to reduce the number of stops people have to make in order to check everything off their grocery lists when they designed Your Local Market. 80 percent of the store’s products are natural and organic while the remaining 20 percent are made up of trusted everyday brands. With a combination of local, organic, natural and mainstream brands, Brown and Johnson hope the store will allow customers to find everything they need.
“Your Local Market is the combination of everything we thought a local grocery store should have,” said Johnson. “We’re happy to see that shoppers are so receptive to our store.”
Your Local Market also offers special customer services. Customers can pre-order their groceries online and have them delivered to their homes. They can also call when they are outside the store and employees will bring their groceries to their car.
Over 100 people have been hired to work at Your Local Market. The entire community welcomed the store at its opening celebration, with representatives from Bellevue City Hall and Chamber of Commerce, as well as a concert from the Clyde Hill Elementary choir.
Brown has worked in specialty retail for 34 years and was a finalist for the 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young. He founded Organic to Go, the first casual retailer that’s certified organic by Quality Assurance International, and helped create Right to Nature Hometown Market in Pittsburgh, Penn. Johnson has over 20 years of retail food service experience, having held senior and operational positions at Right by Nature Market, Organic to Go and Briazz.
“We are Bellevue’s neighborhood partner and we want to make it easy for everyone to shop,” said Brown.
Your Local Market will host its second community benefit on Thursday, Dec. 1 from 5-7:30 p.m. The market will serve a sampling of wines, beer and local foods and host a silent auction. Proceeds will support the Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue.
Your Local Market is located at 410 Bellevue Way NE. For more information, visit www.yourlocalmarket.com.
Story by Justine McDaniel
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