LYNNWOOD — The QFC supermarket chain, which lately has expanded its Snohomish County presence, quietly closed one of its Lynnwood locations last week.
The decision to close the store in Alderwood Plaza, on 33rd Avenue W. near the Alderwood Mall, was a "financial decision," according to QFC’s headquarters in Bellevue.
The company did not disclose how many employees were affected by the closure, although some transferred to other stores in the area, said spokesman Dean Olson.
QFC, one of the Alderwood Plaza’s anchor stores, was not at the end of its lease with the property’s owner, Gramor Development of Lynnwood. So it will be the retailer’s responsibility to find a replacement tenant for its large space, said John Graham, a principal with Gramor.
Gramor bought the 24-year-old shopping center for $21 million last June. Other major tenants there include Big 5 Sporting Goods, Rite Aid and OfficeMax.
QFC also has indicated it will close its Shoreline store at the end of the month. A new retail center is planned for that location.
The two store closures don’t indicate a larger trend, however, Olson said. He said QFC is still interested in building new stores where it makes sense, including in Snohomish County. In November, QFC opened a new 50,000-square-foot market in Stanwood. That location is the northernmost for the chain, which is owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.
QFC’s store on Broadway in Everett was expanded in a just-finished renovation. The updated facade on the store at the corner of Broadway and Everett Avenue and the brighter, new interior have boosted business at that store, Olson said.
"It’s doing extremely well," he said. "We’ve gotten a lot of nice comments."
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