Central Market Shoreline became a member of the Town & Country family in 1990 as the relatively small Shoreline Price Chopper. In 2000, the store reopened as the 57,500-square-foot Central Market, featuring 10,000 square feet devoted to fresh organic and conventional produce, a 52-foot-long Meat Market service counter and live shellfish tanks.
It was the Shoreline store that first employed the silo as the iconic symbol of Central Market’s commitment to connecting people to the source of their food, and used the tagline, “Celebrating Fresh!”
Another remodel in 2008 expanded the Deli, which now offers large self-service bars for salads, soups, vegetarian entrees and olive-and-antipasto bar. With a microwave, in-store seating for about 50 people and a check-out stand that operates 10 am to 8 pm right in the Deli, our Deli has become a popular spot for lunch – great choices, super fresh and no waiting. And we provide recycling and composting receptacles in the dining area.
The store employs 160 people, and attracts customers not just from the surrounding neighborhoods, but from Seattle to Edmonds and east to Lake Forest Park and even Kirkland.
The huge parking lot is the scene of many community and outdoor cooking events, such as the Great Pumpkin Weigh Off, typically the second Saturday in October. Farmers from Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia pack their pickups and flatbeds with giant pumpkins – 30-40 are on display each year. The biggest to date weighed in at 1,467 pounds, in 2008. Families gather, have their pictures taken and enjoy food such as brats, pumpkin soup and cookies. There’s always free cider, and sometimes vendors set up in the parking lot, as well, offering fall goodies like caramel corn or CB’s Nuts, a local treasure.
We’re big on the fall season here at Shoreline. Our Halloween Party attracts about 1,200 kids in costume, with their families and chaperones, where they’re greeted at the door with a bag partially filled with goodies – a good head start on the trick-or-treat stations throughout the store. Games for the under-12 set, bouncy houses, hay rides, free pictures and free hot dogs for the kids provide a great Halloween option for neighborhood families.
Central Market Shoreline is a great supporter of Hopelink, a non-profit that helps families in crisis get back on their feet; of local schools; youth sports teams; neighborhood associations; community organizations; and events like the Shoreline Math Olympiad.
