When Fred Meyer announced it was closing five underperforming” Seattle-area stores last year, it was the public-relations equivalent of kicking a bees’ nest.
Tempers ran especially hot in places like Seattle’s Lake City and Tacoma’s South End, where grocery options were already limited and many lower-income and older residents would have to travel farther for groceries and prescriptions.
“Where are the people that don’t have a car going to shop?” demanded Muriel Lawty, a Lake City Fred Meyer shopper, after the closure was announced…