by Lindsay Peyton

Options are changing for foodies in West Seattle who are on the hunt for fresh produce and gourmet goodies.

Metropolitan Market is undergoing a major renovation, Whole Foods is coming to town and PCC is preparing to close its doors – so it can later reopen in a larger space.

“We’re all really unique and serve customers in different ways,” Helen Neville, executive vice president of sales and operations for Metropolitan Market, said.

She believes that having multiple options benefits residents.

Neville said Metropolitan Market has been under the same ownership since 1971. “There are generations of customers who say this is their store,” she said. “Some of the original people we hired are still here. It’s a community within a community.”

She said that the remodel will make room for a new pizza section of the store – and for extra options in prepared meals.

Store director Paul Marth added that the cheese department has been completely updated, and the coffee shop merged with the bakery, making more room for seating and housewares.

“We’ll have a whole new deli department and upgrade the produce section,” he said.

Construction will stop on Saturday, Nov. 12 to accommodate holiday shoppers. The store will resume its usual hours during the holidays. Until then, the store will close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. during the week – and is open 24-hours during the weekend.

Marth said the store has also started offering community dinners in its outdoor pavilion. The next event is a barbecue, slated for Thursday, Nov. 10.

“It was time to freshen up,” Marth said.

For shoppers worried about the closure of PCC in West Seattle, CEO Cate Hardy said that the future store will be even bigger and better.

The current location will close in the first half of 2017 – after serving the neighborhood for 28 years.

The store will reopen in the same spot – but this time, it will be on the main floor of a multi-story building.

“We don’t have an exact date for the closing, but we’ll be open through the holidays,” Hardy said. “The developer tells us it will be 18 to 24 months before we would reopen.”

In the meantime, PCC is committed to finding positions for all the staff members of the store.

Hardy said that customers can continue to shop at PCC while it’s closed by using Instacart or Amazon’s Prime Pantry.

“The vast majority of what we have at our stores is available online,” she said. “And our Columbia City store is not that far away. It’s one of our newest stores, and it’s twice the size of our West Seattle store.”

Hardy credits an increased interest in organic and local food with PCC’s popularity. “More and more people want what PCC has offered for a long time – organic products and natural products,” she said. “We know the ranchers and the farmers.”

A similar interest in the origins of foods has brought Whole Foods Market a loyal following.

“West Seattle is a community where people have the same values we do,” spokeswoman Susan Livingston said. “They care about issues and so do we. They care about how food gets to the store – and those are our people.”

She said that the company has been trying to open a store in West Seattle for a number of years – and now is under construction as part of the Whittaker development, 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW.

“We can’t wait to get it open,” she said. “We have tons of people in the community who are going to our other stores to shop – and we have tons of team members living in West Seattle who are looking forward to being able to work closer to home.”

The building is set to open in about a year. “We’ve made a lot of progress,” Livingston said.

For now, the store is reaching out to residents to learn more about future customers, hiring more team members and looking for local vendors who want a place to sell their wares.

“For people with dreams about selling their own sausage or kimchi or chocolate, this is their chance,” Livingston said.

The store is also forming a community advisory board – and asking neighbors to join.

“Having an ear to the ground in the community is incredibly valuable,” Livingston said.