A sign will likely appear on the door at Richmond Beach Foods, indicating the store is temporarily closed.
But whether the A-frame sign that reads “$1 lattes always” will return to the curb is unknown.
Richmond Beach Foods, in the 20000 block of NW. 196th St., closed on Friday, Sept. 30, due to financial reasons. The market will eventually reopen after the owner of the store remodels the location, which is known for its homemade pastries and reasonably priced coffee.
“Emotionally it was hard,” said Bill Hardman, who was in the process of buying the store, “but practically it wasn’t.”
Hardman, 52, who operated the market with his wife, Beth, for more than five years, said the decision to close was due to financial reasons. He did not sell the store, as he was leasing it from the owner with the intent to buy.
The store employed four part-time staff to help at the counter and with the 200 post office boxes, which will be relocated. All employees, including Hardman who lives in Edmonds with his family, have found other employment.
Customer Leslie Cornish said she enjoyed frequenting the market every morning to buy pastries, baked daily by Beth Hardman. She would fill up a bag with cookies and give them to friends, telling them they were homemade, but not telling them she wasn’t the cook.
“I stop by every morning and fill a bag with cookies and say they are homemade,” Cornish said. “They are the best of the best cookies.”
Karen Stine, 64, who worked at the market for about four years, said customers and employees were very emotional that the market was closing.
“I wish it was easier for stores like this to stay in business,” Stine said. “This was the one place where people could come and sit down, speak their minds and make connections.”
Stine collaborated with other employees and community members to ensure that the post office boxes located inside the market would be relocated to Spin Alley. A petition was signed with almost 700 signatures.
The store owner, who will be taking over after an 18-year absence, is Alan Gross. Gross, 55, ran the market before giving Hardman the opportunity to buy the store. The shop will likely reopen before the first of next year, although Gross said he is not yet sure if the name will be retained.
“It is going to be kind of a major renovation,” Gross said. ‘I don’t want to talk about it too much yet because there is a lot of speculation out there.”
Gross runs another store in Everett, the Marine View Market. His wife, Michelle, will help him run the Richmond Beach store. He decided to concentrate on the business in Everett, and asked Hardman, who worked for him for 15 years, to take over the operation of the store.
“Bill was buying the store and was just having some difficulties,” Gross said. “He said he couldn’t do it anymore.”
Some of the customer favorites, such as the espresso stand, will be retained, Gross said.
“There will be a lot of new things in there,” Gross aid. “It is like keeping the old, but adding a lot of the new.”
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