Kent Fred Meyer closure leaves produce clerk in ‘utter shock’

With 15 years as a produce clerk at the Fred Meyer store on Kent’s East Hill, Bryan Gilderoy thought business was going pretty well this year.

“We were up in sales lately,” Gilderoy said during a Monday, Aug. 25, interview at Starbucks inside the Fred Meyer at 10201 SE 240th St. “It felt like we were just starting to get into a good groove on things.”

So when Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger announced Aug. 18 that the store would permanently close Oct. 17, Gilderoy had one reaction.

“It was utter shock,” he said. “It does not make sense. We are a lot busier now than some other stores remaining open.”

Kroger’s statement about the closure said it was “due to a steady rise in theft and a challenging regulatory environment that adds significant costs.”

A company spokesperson didn’t explain what type of “regulatory environment” challenges it faced. The statement did add: “Despite doubling our safety and security investment over the past years, these challenges remain.”

Gilderoy doesn’t buy the reasons.

“I think they’re trying to get short-term gains so they can appease their stockholders,” he said. “They care more about Wall Street than SE 240th Street.”

Kroger took steps over the last couple of years to curtail theft, Gilderoy said. The store has exit and entry gates inside the entrances, checks receipts and has uniformed security at the doors. The store added locked cabinets for alcohol in 2022.

“We have equipment now for security,” Gilderoy said. “If it was truly theft (as a reason for closing), we have the hardware, we just need to maintain that.”

As far as the regulatory environment?

“Nobody knows what that means,” he said. “I think it’s a Chat GPT thing.”

Gilderoy worked five years as a produce clerk at the Fred Meyer in Bellingham prior to moving with his wife in 2010 to Auburn to be closer to their families. He got hired at the Kent East Hill location.

“This was the only store in the area with a position open,” he said.

Gilderoy, his wife and their 12-year-old daughter now live in West Seattle. Gilderoy could have moved to a store closer to his home, but decided to stay working in Kent.

“I chose to stay here because I just love this community,” he said.

Gilderoy worries, however, about the challenges the regular customers will face to find food and other products in their neighborhood when the store closes. He said potential options include QFC, Safeway along Kent-Kangley Road, Trader Joe’s, Target, Hong Kong Market and Saar’s.

“I can see that this store is not the prettiest store in the block but it still can feed the community for the everyday person so they can feed their families,” Gilderoy said. “Everybody in this community works hard and this gives them the means for a good meal.”

Kent is one of six stores Kroger recently announced it will close in Western Washington. The others are in Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, Mill Creek (QFC) and Redmond. All but five are in lower income areas, according to Seattle-based United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 3000, which represents the employees.

“They (Kroger) are depriving low income areas so they can potentially make more money at high income areas,” Gilderoy said about plans by the company to open new stores. “It’s almost elitist and like class warfare.”

Fred Meyer has one other location in Kent, known as the Redondo store, on the West Hill at 25250 Pacific Highway S. Kroger invested a lot of money in that location in 2007 with a complete rebuild. The East Hill store was built in 1988, according to King County property records. Fred Meyer owns both properties, according to property records.

What’s next for employees

Gilderoy is one of 203 employees at the East Hill Fred Meyer, according to UFCW 3000. Kroger’s worker adjustment and retraining notification (WARN) to the state Employment Security Department lists 172 employees.

The union contract with Kroger provides some job protection for employees, with an opportunity to transfer to another store and keep their seniority and pay, Gilderoy said. But it doesn’t guarantee hours. He also said employees with seniority can bump down the hours of those with less experience.

“I have 20 years in grocery,” said Gilderoy who might transfer to the Burien Fred Meyer. “Some guy who started after me is working just as hard as I am trying to get as much hours as he can to provide for his family. I move in because my store shut down, I bump him down the ladder.”

That’s where the number of hours worked per week becomes a challenge. Gilderoy said only managers are considered full-time workers. All others are part-time employees, working anywhere between one and 40 hours per week. He said he’s had weeks where he’s worked anywhere from 20 to 40 hours.

“I’m just a regular produce guy trying to provide meals for his family,” he said.

But Gilderoy won’t be the produce guy at the Kent East Hill Fred Meyer much longer.

“I hate to leave East Hill,” he said. “I’m East Hill proud. It’s a good community and will always have your back.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with when the East Hill Fred Meyer was built.