Clues hint at the timeline for Metropolitan Market to open doors in Gig Harbor
After much anticipation, the new Metropolitan Market in Gig Harbor will begin the process of hiring employees for the location starting in June.
Cameron Ito, marketing director for the company, said they are looking to hire approximately 130 workers.
“We are excited to begin actively recruiting in the area starting the beginning of June, and opportunities to be posted on our website within the careers page,” Ito said.
The store will be at 5010 Point Fosdick Drive in Harbor Plaza, formerly home to the Main & Vine, an experimental grocery store operated by Kroger that closed in 2018.
Details on what positions will be available are still being finalized,
“It’s going to be an array of positions from department managers to checkers and everything in between,” Ito said. “Our team in the store will be comprised of leadership positions at varying levels of expertise and responsibilities, as well as non-supervisory roles and positions that will require special skill sets and subject matter expertise.
Metropolitan Market, formerly known as Queen Anne Thriftway, is a high-end grocery chain based in Seattle. It has a store in Tacoma’s Proctor District which has proved popular with young urban shoppers.
The Proctor store is know for its decadent bakery offerings. There is also a floral shop, seafood department, locally sourced cafe, cheese department, butcher shop, kitchenware and a variety of made-to-order selections.
The Gateway reported in November that the store would be opening a Gig Harbor location. The new information about hiring gives an indication that the opening appears to be moving along.
Documents also show the location recently had its standard retail liquor license approved on April 12.
Ito said they will do what they can, covid permitting, to do outreach to local groups in the hiring process.
“With covid over this last year, there have been a lot of things that we have been shifting around,” Ito said. “A lot of the things that we have done historically, like partnering with local schools and organizations, doing on-site recruitment events like job fairs, that’s kind of the lens that we usually take with these things. But we do want to be considerate of any covid restrictions at that time, so a little bit of that is up in the air until we get a little bit closer.”
Ito said that there is the hope to make use of “creative approaches with technology and social media, as well as sourcing solutions for in-person experiences that allow ample physical distancing and PPE.”
Metro Market wants to hire locally when it can, Ito said.
“Typically we try to attract folks that are in the immediate area and the community, that might look like a ten to fifteen mile radius,” Ito said. “But really it just comes down to the positions and reaching out to who is the most qualified.”
Ito said the plan is still to have an official grand opening sometime in the summer.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
