UFCW 3000, the biggest private-sector union in the state representing 56,000 grocery, cannabis, and retail workers, gave its sole endorsement to Katie Wilson for mayor at a press conference outside the Fred Meyer in Lake City Tuesday afternoon.
UFCW 3000 held off on endorsing in the primary, but an announcement from Kroger, the chain’s parent company, to close this store and three others over “low sales” appears to have pushed them into the race. When this store closes, Lake City will lose its one full-service grocery store and become a food desert.
Three of those four stores are in low income communities. According to UFCW 3000, these closures mean the loss of over 700 jobs. These are also just the latest regional closures from Kroger. In July, the big bad grocery kingpin put a Tacoma Fred Meyer and a Mill Creek QFC on the chopping block.
“Kroger’s closures put profit over people, plain and simple,” UCFW 3000 President Faye Guenther said in a press release. The closures will influence the union’s negotiations with Kroger in the future, but “in the meantime, our union strongly encourages elected leaders to prioritize policies that increase access to fresh, affordable food for all.”
On a busy street corner outside of the Lake City Fred Meyer (one of the “struggling” Kroger stores that had a packed parking lot in the middle of the day on a Tuesday), UFCW 3000’s Joe Mizrahi (who The Stranger endorsed for Seattle School Board earlier this year) said Katie Wilson has earned the union’s endorsement “because she shares our goals and our vision of living in a city where people can afford to live near where they work, where they can afford groceries and afford to pay rent.” He specifically shouted out her plans to push for tax code reform that takes the burden from the shoulders of working class people and puts it on wealthy corporations like Kroger.
At a podium in front of a group of UFCW 3000 members, Wilson called out City Hall for failing to invest in neighborhoods like Lake City, and called the Kroger closures what they are: corporate greed.
“We desperately need creative, effective local leadership to take on these challenges,” she said. “As mayor, I’m excited to step up with UFCW and explore public option grocery stores” to fill gaps created by food deserts. “We will pair full-service groceries with workforce housing,” she continued, and “lay the foundation for food security with grocery oriented development zones.” She called them “GODZ,” which we don’t expect to stick.
When asked if she was taking inspiration from NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposals to develop public grocery stores in New York, Wilson pointed out that this isn’t a new idea, nor a “pie-in-the-sky” proposal. Military bases already offer a public option for groceries, she said. And while she thinks it’s “inspiring” that proposals are popping up across the country, she emphasized that a blueprint for New York wouldn’t fit Seattle. “We’re going to develop a proposal that’s suited to Seattle’s conditions.”
UFCW 3000’s endorsement shows that, in spite of the narrative earlier in this campaign season, Wilson has labor’s support.
Before the primary election, MLK Labor—the central body of labor unions in King County and a big player in local politics—threw its support behind Bruce Harrell. The whispers started: Wilson isn’t backed by labor. But, then Protec17, the union for city workers, turned on its boss and endorsed Wilson.
Additionally, Protec17 cemented its support for Wilson with a new progressive PAC, Katie Wilson for an Affordable Seattle. According to PAC organizers, the PAC will be the vehicle for the union’s financial support of Wilson.
Now, after Harrell’s terrible primary showing, rumor has it that MLK Labor (which UFCW 3000 votes in) will soon vote toswitch its sole Harrell endorsement to a dual Harrell and Wilson endorsement. Whatever happens, Wilson appears to be building momentum. Harrell? Not so much.
Another post, another misdirection
“When this store closes, Lake City will lose its one full-service grocery store and become a food desert.”
There is a Grocery Outlet across the street that is a 5 minute walk from the Fred Meyer and there is a QFC 1.5 miles away and a Safeway 1.2 miles away.
“Wilson called out City Hall for failing to invest in neighborhoods like Lake City, and called the Kroger closures what they are: corporate greed.”
I can’t get buy into the notion that a for profit company is willing to walk away from a profitable location because they are trying to make a political statement or they have given their CEO so much money they are closing a store. The latter is certainly not true. In their 2024 filing the CEO was paid $1.4M, this represents less than 1% of total operating profit in 2024 ($3.85B). Like most of executives the majority of him comp is tied to stock price so closing profitable locations would seem to be self defeating.
Even if you do support that argument than surely another for profit business would swoop in and immediately set up shop in that location because after all there is a sufficient demand and you can make money.
I can already envision 1312 coming in here and rambling on about how crime is down. Sure its down in WA however we still rank 5th in the country for property crime so while our year over year rates are down Seattle is still more costly to operate in for a business. That doesn’t include the costs of prevention such as security guards, cameras, locking up merchandise etc.
In some ways I am thankful for UFCW for stepping up and handing Wilson an even bigger shovel for which to bury herself. I tend to agree with TS that Wilson is probably going to win, if for nothing more than Seattle voters are very fickle and have extremely short term memories. When Wilson does take office however she’ll be staring down a 9 figure budget deficit with a (most likely) recent vote to already increase taxes on business. It will be everything she can do to maintain what the city is doing today and making promises she has no hope of fulfilling is going to make her administration an even bigger disaster and disappointment that it already is destined to be.
@2, regardless of why Freddys is walking away, the store closures are a black eye for incumbents. Losing local access to food and housewares even as the city population grows is a sign of local economic dysfunction. Grocery Outlet has limited pickings, and the other options over a mile away creates a hardship for what was trying to be a walkable community. It plain sucks and Wilson is smart to grab those votes.
Have you read Ms Wilson’s platform?
Lot’s of promises, and all which require additional taxes to fund her platform. The taxes would affect all economic classes in Seattle.
Either she will get her way and we will all pay higher taxes, with minimal result, if any result at all – or the city council will reject her socialist notions and progress will freeze.
Wilson is a waste of 4 years. How long do we have to wait for a real leader who’s plans are actionable?
I suggest Bruce.
@2 I guess but if voters think, electing a city atty who will once again deprioritize theft and a mayor who has vowed to raise taxes even more on low margin businesses, will help the situation they are in for a very predictable outcome.
I know the workers at the QFC on 24th Avenue in Ballard were overwhelmed by the denizens of the drug encampment that sprouted in the Ballards Commons park.
I’m skeptical that they would vote to return to those days. Voting for Wilson is a vote to return to the encampments and crime that was so prevalent between 2017 and 2021.
Meanwhile in the other Washington, Donald Trump stated, “I think crime will be the big subject of the midterms and will be the big subject of the next election.”
Unfortunately he is correct. If Republicans are successfully able to frame the midterms as being about crime then Mike Johnson will wield the speakers gavel until at least January 2029.
Democrats need to abandon the progressives. Progressive policies resulted in turning longtime Democratic strongholds in the Rio Grande Valley into MAGA Red Districts, that will be difficult to recover.
If Seattle voters swing towards Wilson in 2025 it will only improve the Republicans position nationally in 2026.
@2: Lake City Way has long been a neglected area of Seattle, and I doubt very much Ms. Wilson’s election-season opportunism in discovering the place will change that. As @1 noted, if the location is viable, another merchant will move in there. If it’s not, then Lake City Way has problems beyond that one store.
@5: “…the workers at the QFC on 24th Avenue in Ballard were overwhelmed by the denizens of the drug encampment that sprouted in the Ballards Commons park.”
Traditionally, a union’s endorsement counts because it can mobilize members in get-out-the-vote campaigns for the endorsed candidate. If the union’s members largely disagree with the leaders on a candidate, then the union’s leadership won’t be able to deliver votes, and the union’s endorsement lacks value. As you say, retail workers bore the brunt of Seattle’s failure to prosecute homeless persons’ assaults and thefts at retailers. It will be interesting to see if a split develops between the workers’ experiences and leader’s political goals. (If such a split does develop, we can then count on the Stranger to deride those workers’ lived experiences.)
Kansas City has govt run grocery stores and they’re a disaster.
I hope Wilson wins. Harrell has been a big disappointment, but that’s not why I want Wilson to win. The reason I want Wilson: Seattle needs to experience the full force of Progressive governance.
We had a taste of it with nutters like Herbold, Morales, and Sawant. But with Wilson as mayor, a progressive city attorney, and a progressive city council president, Seattle can take the full bite.
That bite will taste good the first year. But like a Thai Restaurant that forget to refrigerate the chicken, Seattle will be sitting on the toilet for the next three.
First year: progressive revenue taxes, capital gains tax, landlord penalties, decriminalizing misdemeanors (smoking fent on the bus, freeway protests, shoplifting, assaulting elderly Asian, etc) Happy Happy, Feel Good.
Years 2-4: Businesses move to Bellevue to avoid taxes, Stores close–including grocery stores, landlords sell their ‘upzoned’ rentals to make way for $800K townhouse, rents increase, police retire or take jobs in Bellevue, and Progressives claim they need to increase ‘progressive’ revenue again. (Progressive will blame Republicans and probably the Orange Man for business leaving, stores closing, and rents increasing). Then, and maybe just then, voters will think: “Hey, maybe taxing businesses encourages them to leave. Maybe penalizing landlords, shrinks the housing supply, and undermining police increases crime. Maybe…
So…let’s elect Wilson and as many progressives as possible. Let’s become Portland, OR as soon as possible and hit bottom hard. And, then let’s get off of the toilet and move on
The “Public Grocery Option” — the latest in Wilson’s perfect streak of bold, well-intentioned proposals that sound great in theory and won’t work.
Next up: Perpetual Motion Turbines — the ultimate renewable clean energy source!
“But like a Thai Restaurant that forget [sic] to refrigerate the chicken, Seattle will be sitting on the toilet for the next three.”
Inelegant though the image created may be, one did chuckle.
I guess I’m not understanding Seattle voters… it’s not like Harrell, Davison, et al., have been governing so wildly different from what they promised during their respective campaigns. I do wonder if some of the support for Wilson is anti-Trump spillover. Local voters can’t really affect national politics at the moment, so they’re expressing their frustration where they can.
“Next up:
Perpetual Motion Turbines —
the ultimate renewable clean energy source!”
–@fantastic flailing fabulist*
yeah and
BIG fucking OIL
is keeping Us LOCKED Into
a Doomed Pathway Directly into
the fucking Abyss, with Massive (Taxpayer!)
Subsidies to Do So, speaking of FREE fucking SUNSHINE
and far reichwing propagandistitos
*also Ignoring
tidal turbines
in it efforts
to Keep its
Narrative
supreme
Public Grocery Stores??
You mean the grocery store workers that I see regularly aren’t already extremely stressed out? (Hint: Rainier Ave S)
@7 just a reminder we had them too. The state used to operate all liquor stores. People loved that so much that at the first opportunity we got rid of them. You know what happened? Selection and convenience increased and prices went down.
Did it occur to the author that the lot was “packed” because of the political rally? Because in my 17 years of shopping at that Lake City Fred Meyer, the lot has never been packed. Including on Christmas eve. (It is a very large lot, admittedly.)
There hopefully won’t be any public investment in grocery stores as that is the worst possible sector in which to invest public dollars. And if there were, it would be promptly lost to waste, fraud and abuse as in Kansas City. And as it will be in New York.
The way to keep existing stores and attract new ones is to keep taxation reasonable (the upcoming B&O tax hike would definitely hit this Fred Meyer), keep the neighborhood safe with frequent police patrols and arrests of criminal offenders, and keep the neighborhood clean with regular street and sidewalk trash removal, encampment removals, etc.
In Seattle, we do everything possible to make stores like Fred Meyer unprofitable and so we will continue losing stores like Fred Meyer.
11 that’s 100% whats happening. The minute the federal went the way it did, this was a predictable outcome.
What we’re incapable of learning is that ricocheting from traditional liberals to progressive quackery and back over and over and over is leaving the city without any forward progress, without a governing strategic plan, without any long-range thinking, without any meaningful collaboration. Its a recipe for government dysfunction.
What is true: if you loved tents, encampments, obstructed sidewalks, waiting around for “housing first”…you will LOVE Katie Wilson. Her 4 years (she will ONE HUNDRED PERCENT get tossed out in 4 years time) will be …to be polite…ineffective on an epic scale.