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The greatly anticipated New Seasons store opened in Milwaukie on Wednesday, with a bread-breaking, llamas, a marching band and crowds of eager shoppers braving the elements.
It was tough to find a parking spot mid-morning as people flocked to the grocer’s newest location, off Highway 224. Employees gave out samples of Smith Teamaker Jasmine tea, cold brew, locally sourced jams and mortadella.
“This place is hopping,” one worker noted as she emerged from the storeroom with a box of goods.
Colorful murals encircle the walls, and a dining area sits by the front windows. There are cookie and pastry stations, a florist, deli, Easter displays, organic everything … all the artisan-y touches you expect from the upscale grocer, which got its start in Portland in 1999. Good Food Holdings, a subsidiary of a South Korean retail conglomerate, bought the 20-store chain in 2019. The Milwaukie store was originally supposed to open in fall 2023 but got pushed back to March.
At 35,000 square feet, the Milwaukie store is among the largest in the chain and employs 100 people. It occupies a former Albertsons building that closed years ago, leaving a gaping hole in the Milwaukie Marketplace shopping center.
CEO Nancy Lebold attended the opening, as did state Rep. and former Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba.
The Milwaukie environs will soon have another new shopping option, with the announcement of a Trader Joe’s in neighboring Oak Grove.