Tuesday, August 30, 2005

North Portland FINALLY gets a natural foods grocery store

New Seasons opens tomorrow! Wednesday 8am! It’s finally happening! And if you live in North Portland you know why all of those exclamation points are warranted. We’ve lived without quality stores for a while out there in North Portland, and yes, while we’re seeing changes like the new Safeway in St. Johns and the new Interstate Fred Meyer, a lot of us trek to New Seasons in Concordia to get our fix.

I’ve been watching the development on the corner of Portland and Interstate, and it’s like night and day. The new building is beautiful, and get this: ZERO storm water runoff from the property will go into the sewer system. Look when you walk in and you’ll see a garden above the entryway, absorbing runoff from the roof, and funneling the rest into bio-swales on the sides. Even the design of the building is to take advantage of natural light in order to counter need for excessive indoor lighting.

Like other New Seasons, they’ll have health classes, tours and lectures that are FREE, and, I know their tagline may sound dorky, but it’s totally true: the friendliest neighborhood store is no joke. The people at New Seasons are so dang helpful and nice it's unheard of. I once had an employee from the Orenco store drop off AT MY HOUSE an item I couldn't get at the Concordia store. What the? Who does something like that anymore?!


Sigh and exhale. Thank you, New Seasons, for investing in North Portland: there are a ton of us out there who want you and will support you and have been asking for you to be there for eons. I’ll be there tomorrow with bells on!
The goods:
New Seasons Arbor Lodge Opening
Wednesday, August 31st
Doors open 8am
Special ceremony at 10am
North Interstate and Portland Blvd
New 37,500-square-foot location
Creates 160 new jobs, primarily filled by employees from the neighborhood. And in their words…"Offering a product mix of essential groceries for everyday living, the Arbor Lodge store also features organic produce, natural meats, fresh seafood, an extensive wine and beer selection, and a certified organic bakery featuring artisan breads. It will also have New Seasons Market’s signature “hot wok” and full-service deli with an adjacent seating area. All New Seasons Market stores are committed to carrying local products and purchasing from local farms, ranches, dairies and fisheries.”

I feel like NoPo is truly arriving…

4 comments:

Rozanne said...

Here's my testimonial about how the employees live up to the friendly motto:

I once filled my cart with $80 worth of groceries, had them all tallied up and bagged, and then realized I'd *forgotten* my wallet. Crap!

The checker just laughed and told me to go ahead and take the groceries home and put them away and then come back and pay. (Which I did.)

But I could have easily just ripped them off for $80. They didn't ask me to leave any collateral and they didn't even ask me my name!

Can you imagine that happening anywhere else in the WORLD?

Kathryn said...

I love New Seasons, I'm so jealous. I have to go into Lake O. to the ticky tacky Wild Oats at Bridgeport mall that I hate. Either that or Trader Joe's for my organic milk for my kids. Lucky Lucky Lelo!

brett said...

i'll be photoblogging from there later. we're going to WALK up since it's so close. hee hee.

cya.

geeekgirl said...

tofu pate!