EVERETT, AUG 20: A Fred Meyer location in South Everett will be permanently closing in mid-October.
Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC, announced Monday, August 18, that they would be closing its Evergreen Way location. An additional store in Kent is also set to close.
Kroger said in a statement that the closures were primarily due to “rising theft and a challenging regulatory environment.”
However, Everett Police crime statistics show that theft in the area has significantly gone down in the past four years.
Overall offenses at the store fell by 49% from 2023 to 2024, going from 197 incidents down to 101, according to Everett Police.
In a press release from the union representing Kroger employees, about 360 employees in total will be impacted.
Although employees at both locations will be offered positions at other Kroger locations, the union has raised concerns about how the store closures will affect food access for low-income communities.
According to union president Faye Guenther, Kroger’s closures “put profit over people.”
In a statement on Instagram, Mayor Cassie Franklin claimed that she was told the closures were due to state regulations and financial losses, not theft.
“At the end of the day, this was a corporate business decision that drove this closure and sadly many more store closures across the state,” Franklin wrote. “My focus now is making sure local families still have access to groceries, supporting our local markets in South Everett, and planning for the future of this site.”
In July, Kroger announced the closure of the Mill Creek QFC location set for September. Kroger also announced the closure of two additional Fred Meyer stores in Lake City and Redmond.
The closest Fred Meyer to Evergreen Way is the 164th South Street location in Lynnwood, about seven miles south.
Corrected Aug. 20 to an image that better reflects the content of the story.