MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A rising tide of gluten-free foods into mainstream stores, along with the popularity of Amazon.com, has cost a local natural food store its livelihood.
Manna Mills Natural Market in Mountlake Terrace will close its doors at the end of this month, owner Choon Park said.
The store in its current incarnation has been a fixture at 21705 66th Ave. W., off 220th Street, for more than 20 years, said the 63-year-old Park.
She bought it at the height of the market 10 years ago, weathering the recession with the help of what the Manna Mills website touts as the “largest selection of gluten-free products in Seattle”.
“But now, gluten-free is everywhere,” Park said.
“We had our niche vanish,” said store employee Kyle Morin, 25.
And Park points to Amazon.com as the reason she’s found it almost impossible in recent years to move vitamins and supplements off the shelves. People have switched to ordering them online, she said.
The store at one time offered 200 different types of products in bulk, from coconut, almond and soy flours, to beans, grains and rice.
Over the years, the store attraced a small but loyal following and many of them are taking the store’s closure hard, said employee Jessica Strong, 25.
“I’ve seen all the stages of grief since we’ve been telling people we’re closing,” Strong said.
Park said she’s had customers come to her in tears and she’s been tearful herself, but she held on to the store as long as she could. She’s lost money for the last four years, she said.
“We had known the store had been struggling for years,” Morin said, “and it finally came to a head.”
One of the store’s biggest sellers was its raw cows’ milk and customers have been wondering where to find it. The store is helping people find alternative locations to find some of its goods.
People can either call the store at 425-775-3479 or come in to find out about this and other products.
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