SEQUIM — Sequim’s Grocery Outlet will close Saturday after more than a decade in business.
Since company representatives announced the upcoming closure on the business’ Facebook page on Dec. 28, a store-wide clearance sale has been conducted at the discount grocery store in the Sequim Village Marketplace.
“We have enjoyed all the community support and our loyal customers,” the Facebook announcement said. “Our team thanks you for all your shopping.”
The post encouraged customers to visit the Port Angeles Grocery Outlet, at 2823 E. U.S. Highway 101 in Port Angeles, which opened last spring.
Local representatives could not be reached for comment about plans for employees.
Kelly O’Rourke, spokesperson for Grocery Outlet, confirmed the store’s closure date, and, “as of now, there are no plans for another location in Sequim in the immediate future.”
“We want to extend our deepest thanks to the store Operator Douglas Everett and to the close-knit Sequim community for their support over the last 11 years,” she said.
“We encourage our shoppers to check out our other local Grocery Outlet locations, including Port Angeles.”
Grocery Outlet hosts more than 400 locations in six states, with ownership held by independent operators.
Both Grocery Outlet, 1045 W. Washington St., and Ross Dress For Less, 1055 W. Washington St., opened in Sequim in 2011.
Sequim Village
Jenny Gage, vice president/asset manager for Washington Capital Management, Inc., which oversees most of Sequim Village Marketplace, said the marketplace is owned by a pension fund and her company is the investment advisor for the fund.
First Western represents the fund for leasing properties, Gage said.
Gage previously said Washington Capital builds and leases the pads, but Costco, First Federal and Home Depot’s locations are not owned by the fund.
Sequim’s Grocery Outlet is under a corporate lease and Gage said the company does not disclose franchisee information publicly along with other specifics, such as rent.
Gage said her company is talking to several other potential tenants but would not name them.
She did confirm that Ulta Beauty, the largest beauty retailer in the U.S., tentatively plans to reopen later this year.
The Sequim Ulta store, at 1065 W. Washington St., opened in May 2018. It was the first national retailer in Sequim to close in 2020 during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GameStop also closed in Sequim in 2020, and JCPenney closed in 2021.
For more about Grocery Outlet, visit GroceryOutlet.com.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.