West Seattle PCC re-opening definitely worth the wait!

Holy moly it's finally happening. The re-opening of the West Seattle PCC on California Avenue right across the street from the Hiawatha Community Center.  And boy-oh-boy was the wait ever worth it. This store is gorgeous!  What a gift for West Seattle residents who, like PCC, are all about building and supporting strong community.

​I wasn't quite sure why I was so excited about this particular store opening. Shepard Moon has been working with PCC since our beginning 20 years ago. We've been blessed to be part of the excitement of opening new stores with them many times. Then it dawned on me. Were they the first PCC to order our products? Sure enough, on October 26th, 1999, Invoice #1012 (we started at 1000) PCC West Seattle placed an order for 9 different baths at 3 units each! 

It was fun to look back at that first order. Though some of the names have changed, we still supply PCC with all but two of these items. And thank goodness for the changes we've made to our packaging! Back then we applied clear labels to hand-pressed paper, then literally brushed glue onto the backs and laid them out to dry. But wait….That's not all. Then we tied raffia into little bows that we glued onto the front with enough of a gap to stick a flower behind. I can't even imagine doing that today. Last week, we made, packaged and delivered over 1200 units using over 2000 pounds of salt. And we're just now getting ramped up for bath season.I'm so grateful that not one item had a raffia bow or needed glue. 

Being part of a new store opening is thrilling and each one has it's own feel to it. I'm always amazed at how they pull it off. In these days of 'Grand Openings' and advertising, it's not like you can say, 'We need to reschedule - we're not ready."When I brought in our second order Tuesday —-13 hours before the official opening, the store was filled with employees stocking shelves, cooks preparing food and construction workers still assembling the bulk section and painting the PCC logo on the side of the building. There was a definite electricity in the air.

Perhaps the other reason this opening feels 'big' is my great aunt Rosa. She's 101 years old, lives in West Seattle and has shopped at PCC for over 40 years. Every time I've visited her lately, she asks me when they're going to re-open the store. So at noon yesterday, I grabbed Auntie Rosa armed with her PCC card from 1975 which she proudly keeps in her wallet---and went to the Grand Opening. The store was packed and the electricity in the air was more greatly intensified. It was such a wonderful experience to share with my aunt.  She kept saying "This is so be-uu-ti-ful. Why I could spend a whole day in here!"

So congratulations to you residents of West Seattle and kudos PCC Community Markets. Thank you for a wonderful day with my aunt and a morning full of memories about our beginnings. Most importantly, thank you for 20 years of continuously supporting Shepard Moon and the hundreds of other small independent businesses and farmers. In these days of 'order by app' and 'who cares where it comes from' you are a rock-solid pillar of why community is powerful and healing in its own foundational way. So I had to smile when driving over the Ballard Bridge last night and saw for the first time 'PCC Community Market" all lit up at the soon to open new Ballard location. A perfect PCC Day! I can't wait to be part of that excitement in the next few weeks. Until Ballard then!