PCC Community Markets yesterday said that it will delay the opening of a planned downtown Seattle store, originally scheduled for this summer, until early 2022.
The reason, the Seattle Times writes, is "a shortage of workers and likely customers."
According to the story, "PCC CEO and president Suzy Monford cited company concerns about finding the 100 or so workers necessary to staff a new store when the natural-foods retailer already has vacancies at its existing 15 locations.
"'Our focus is on filling those roles first' at existing stores, Monford said in a statement.
"But PCC also worried about a lack of foot traffic from office workers in downtown office buildings, notably the Rainier Square tower itself. Many remain largely empty due to employers’ work-from-home policies."
The 20,000 square foot store will be in the Rainier Square project located on the block between Union and University and Fourth and Fifth in downtown Seattle.
- KC's View:
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This likely is going to be a problem we'll see play out again and again in coming months, especially in urban locations that have seen a certain amount of flight because of Covid, and where there remains some concern about going back to work. But I have top believe it is just temporary, and by fall we'll see a lot of these conditions receding - assuming, of course, that the pandemic continues to recede, as well.
