The Greenwood Food Bank collects vegetables, fruit, milk and other groceries from local stores to help feed the hungry. But no local grocery store has consistently given as much as Greenwood Market, which will close in early February to make way for an expanded Fred Meyer.

Patty Leach, program manager for the Greenwood Food Bank, which is run by Volunteers of America, says that Greenwood Market donated 183,911 pounds of food and health care products to Greenwood Food Bank last year.

“The Greenwood Market made an incredible difference in our community, they donated not only nutritious healthy meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables but so many basic need items like laundry soap, personal hygiene items etc,” Leach said in an email. “The community supported the food bank weekly always making sure the food drive barrel was full on the scheduled pick-up day. Volunteers of America would like to express our gratitude to everyone for knowing the need in our community and for all your willingness to make a difference.”

This morning I tagged along as food bank employee Ken Stout picked up his usual load of food from Greenwood Market. Stout said he usually picks up about 1,000 pounds of food on each of his four trips to the store each week.

“They’ve been a very, very generous organization,” Stout said of Town & Country Markets, which also owns Ballard Market, Central Markets in Shoreline, Mill Creek and Poulsbo, and a Town & Country Market on Bainbridge Island.

Today, Stout was greeted with a large rolling cart of fruit and vegetables, another cart of dairy products, a grocery cart full of crackers and other boxed food, and another cart of ground coffee, flour and miscellaneous items. The food bank barrels at the front of the store, where customers can donate, brought in another fully-loaded cart.

The store, and customers, donate not only food but health products such as soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Stout has to weigh all the donations before loading it into the van.

Greenwood Food Bank employee Ken Stout weighs every box of donated groceries.

Today Stout drove away with 944 pounds of food. He expects his 1,000-pound average to be less and less as it gets closer to the store closing date, since they won’t be ordering as much inventory.

A full van of groceries collected from Greenwood Market on Friday, Jan. 6.

The good news is that when Fred Meyer reopens in the late fall with a full grocery section, it will partner with Food Lifeline/Feeding America to donate groceries to Greenwood Food Bank.

“Almost every one of our 132 stores is on this perishable donation program and it results in more than 4 million pounds of food donated to food banks each year. In Western Washington, Food Lifeline agencies receive about 2 million pounds,” Melinda Merrill, Fred Meyer’s Director of Public Affairs, told me in an email.

But there will be a gap of nine or 10 months between the time Greenwood Market closes and Fred Meyer reopens, and the food bank is hoping the community can help out.

“We are working very hard on building new relationships and appreciate this opportunity to get the word out that if our local businesses and churches would like to host a food/fund bin during this transition time we would greatly appreciate their help,” Leach said. “We currently have a food bank donation bin located in the Greenwood Safeway for the community. For every dollar used to support the food bank last year we were able to provide 3 meals. We are always grateful for the opportunity when folks hosts food and fund drives for the food bank! To learn more and stay informed join us at our Community Volunteer Night the 2nd Friday of the month from 6pm-8pm or the 4th Saturday of the month from 9am-11am.”

The Greenwood Food Bank is located at 9041 Greenwood Ave. N.

Update: The kitchen equipment is all spoken for.

The Phinney Market at 5918 Phinney Ave. N. will close for good at 5 p.m. Friday. Everything is discounted this week, and they’re even selling all the kitchen equipment. The owners say if you see something you like, make them an offer.

We are receiving our last orders of bread, dairy and produce this week. Our final discounts are 40% off Grocery Items and 25% off of beer, wine, bread, dairy and Produce. Don’t know what to buy? Try out one of the $5 grab bags. Each grab bag contains $10-$15 worth of product. Come take advantage of the great prices and help us clear our inventory!

When Mud Bay moved out of its old location at 8211 Greenwood Ave. N., a new produce store called Kelly’s Fresh Produce was supposed to move in. But, that didn’t work out, and now a different produce store, Theo’s Fresh Produce, hopes to open by the end of September.

Operations Manager Theo LaConte says his store will feature plenty of produce from hundreds of local farms, plus some dry goods, Washington wines and beer, espresso, and maybe even a small deli. He says they hope to open in late September, but definitely no later than Oct. 1.

“I’ve been in the produce business all my life. I’ve been a chef for years. I have a bachelor’s in food science,” LaConte said. “We’re trying to focus on as much local as we can.”

Theo’s will work with suppliers that support more than 700 locally owned and operated family farms and dairies.

LaConte’s business partner, Jim Greene, owns the building. Greene’s son Kelly was hoping to open a produce business, with LaConte as one of his suppliers, but that didn’t work out, leaving the building open for LaConte to join Greene in their own produce store.

“This is a perfect area for something like this,” LaConte said.

The almost 3,600 square feet is on three levels. The main floor – about two-thirds of the space – will be produce, plus a small espresso stand, dairy cases, and wine and beer (Theo’s is still waiting on its liquor license).

Near the back, just two steps up, will be an area for dry goods such as bread, cereal, etc. Another three steps up takes you to a small area where LaConte hopes to eventually set up a deli, but that’s at least a year off because it needs major plumbing work to turn into a deli.

Local artist Jim Carey is painting a mural on the north wall, and LaConte hopes to eventually get more local art on the walls.

LaConte says his espresso stand is not designed to compete with other area coffee shops, but will be more of a convenience for shoppers. He will use beans from Java! Java!, a very small Maple Valley coffee roaster.

Several people alerted us to the For Lease signs that appeared on the building where Kelly’s Fresh Produce was expected to open on the corner of North 83rd Street and Greenwood Avenue North. We just spoke with the building owner, who says he is indeed looking for a new tenant.

“The Kelly in Kelly’s Produce changed his mind, so we’re looking for a new produce vendor,” owner Jim Greene said today.

He says he’s got a couple interested people looking at the space. Greene says he hopes to have interior renovations done in the next week or so. One noteworthy element is a produce-themed mural on the interior north by artist Jim Carey. Here’s a picture of the partially completed work.

There’s also a comment thread on this subject in the forum.

Ken’s Market greatly expanded when it took down the temporary wall between the old and the new sections late Sunday night. The new side opened early Monday morning with some produce, and workers have spent all week installing and stocking shelves.

Last week we got a sneak peek three days before the wall came down.

Mike V just sent these photos that he took today, showing workers as they finish up work in the produce section.

And here’s looking to the other side of the store where the registers are.

Today we got a sneak peek inside the new section of Ken’s Market, which is set to open Monday morning.

Co-Owner and Co-Manager Scott Giles says the temporary wooden wall between the two sections of the store will come down just after the store closes at 11 o’clock Sunday night. The new produce section should be all set to go in the new space when the store reopens at 6 o’clock Monday morning. Below is the wall that will come down. The rounded shelving is for the floral department.

The new produce section will be about three times as large as in the old store. This is looking towards the northwest.

The dark wooden doors in the far back are where 75 bins of bulk food will go. The bins will contain various granolas, trail mix, rice, flour, candy, chocolate-coated treats, nuts, etc.

And this is the east wall. (That’s a lone package of cantaloupe chunks sitting on the refrigerated shelf today. The health inspector was expected to inspect the unit later today.)

“Monday morning we’re going to be in business here on this side, just selling produce,” Giles says. The rest of that side will be blocked off as workers finish assembling and stocking shelves. “Then as the day goes on we’ll bring in more.”

In addition to produce, the new side will have meat, expanded floral and other general groceries.

“We’re looking forward to having ample room for customers to move about the store. It limited us a lot,” Giles says of the old store, when the aisles were barely wide enough for two carts to pass each other.

“By the end of next week the store should be set,” he says. “At that point we’ll still be working out some bugs and fine tuning.”

They’ll have customer comment cards out at the check stands and at various places throughout the store. Giles says they want customers’ honest feedback on what they like and don’t like.

You’ll still see construction happening at the back and upstairs as they finish up the office area. Giles says he’s excited to finally have a real office to do paperwork. That space will also have a conference room for staff meetings and an employee lounge.

“We’re very happy with our contractor, Henken Wright,” Giles says. “They’ve been very good at working with us, keeping us in business this whole time. We only lost one day through this whole thing. It’s been a tremendous learning experience. We have learned to adapt,” he says with a laugh.

That’s Giles on the right, and Co-Owner and Co-Manager Bill Stamey on the left.

Giles’ dad, Ken, still works a fair amount at the store, despite selling it back in the mid-1970s. Giles and his brothers, Greg and Steve, still own Marketime in Fremont. The family no longer owns the Queen Anne Ken’s Market.

Giles says his dad doesn’t earn a salary for his work at the store that bears his name. “He gets paid in soup, you could say. He loves our soup!”

Giles says he and his brothers learned about the importance of customer service from their dad. “His core values are customer service, a well-stocked and clean store,” he says. “He’s instilled that in us more than anything over the years. Listen to your customers.”

Ken’s Market’s grand re-opening celebration is tentatively set for April 7.

Ken’s Market opened in its new space in early October, and is hoping to open its remodeled old space sometime in March. In the meantime, they’re asking for the neighborhood’s input on what items they should carry. The “old” space will house the meat department, a big produce section, and bulk.

We have a few ideas for what we’d like to carry, but we’d love to hear suggestions from the neighborhood in terms of what they’d like for the bulk bins.

So put your comments to Ken’s below.

Time to get your fresh fruit and veggies, flowers, jam, pickles, cheese, hand-made pasta, baked goods, pizza and a whole lot more as the Phinney Farmers Market opens the season Friday from 3-7 p.m. at the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

Live music from 4-6 p.m., a play area for the kids and sunshine – what a great way to spend a Friday evening and support your local farmers.

Phinney’s market runs every Friday through Oct. 2. They always have a whiteboard out front detailing what’s fresh that week, but you can also sign up for a weekly “Ripe and Ready Report” from the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance. Send an email to nfma@seattlefarmersmarkets.org to be added to the list.

Phinney Market, 5918 Phinney Ave. N., opened today at about 4 p.m. Not even an hour later, a steady stream of customers were lining up at the cash registers manned by owners John and Angela Siderius.

They were ready to go at the deli…

and the nearby ice cream counter.

They’ll be open until about 8 p.m. tonight and will reopen in the morning. They’re still working out what their regular hours will be, so stay tuned.

And next door, the owners of Tangerine Thai are busy working toward their opening near the end of this month, they hope.

The Phinney Market, 5918 Phinney Ave. N, is very close to opening. Here’s a couple pics from one of the vendors:

Beth, from Honey! I’m Home! catering, added this along with her photos:

I was at the Phinney Market today, taking some of our products to stock.   John, Angela and scores of friends and family were there to help put the final touches on the store.  It’s lovely.  Lots of fun, unusual items – along with lots of local producers (including us!  Honey! I’m Home! Catering).
They’ve got a great deli counter and their own chef, making take away food and sandwiches to order.   They even have an ice cream counter for the kids (and grown up kids). 
They’ll be a great addition to the neighborhood.
Keep your eyes open for the paper on the windows to come down.

Construction workers have been at it for about a week inside and behind Ken’s Market, but now there’s a more visible sign of the work – the removal of signs for the other storefronts.

The removed awnings carried the names for the Couth Buzzard, Allusia and Greenwood Bakery. We’ve been meaning to write up an update on the store, so we hope to bring you more later.

The sign is up out front and they’re stocking the shelves and the deli case inside Take 5 Urban Market, located at the corner of 8th Avenue NW and NW 70th Street.

The store will have prepared take out food, sandwiches, some groceries, fresh produce, pop, juice, beer and wine. It’ll also have espresso made from Phinney Ridge’s Herkimer Coffee beans, which will arguably make it the best place to get a hot caffeinated beverage on 8th Avenue.