CEO talks about why Portland's first Market of Choice will shut down on April 14

Parking and traffic cited as factors. No effect on three other Portland-area locations expected.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION FROM MARKET OF CHOICE CEO RICK WRIGHT.

The CEO of the Eugene-based company that owns eleven Market of Choice stores in Oregon tells the Southwest Connection that the decision to close the store on SW Terwilliger Boulevard in mid-April came down to the size of the store, a shortage of parking spaces and increasing traffic congestion at the intersection with Taylors Ferry Road.

"Basically, the store hasn't been able to perform and there are a lot of factors, many, many factors," said Rick Wright, who runs the Market of Choice chain from its corporate offices in Eugene.

Primarily though, "that site is nothing like any of our other stores so it made it much more difficult to operate that kind of format. So the decision was to focus on what we're good at, which is larger stores," Wright said.

Asked if the relatively small number of parking spaces was one of the many factors in the closing, Wright said, "Absolutely. Parking and traffic. That intersection's tough and with drivers using apps now to tell them where to drive to get away from freeway traffic, it's just making those types of intersections much more difficult."

Market of Choice on Terwilliger will be open during its regular hours until closing time on Sunday, April 14. "I wish we could have found a way to keep it going but it wasn't profitable for us. We just didn't think we were ever going to find a way out with the traffic and parking problems. It's best to focus on our other locations. That's where the decision came down," the CEO said.

When it opened in August of 2003, the store on Terwilliger Boulevard was the first Market of Choice in the Portland area. It was part of an industry group defined by the Federal Trade Commission as "premium natural organic supermarkets." Since then, the chain has opened larger new stores in Southeast Portland, West Linn and Beaverton. There are five Market of Choice stores in Eugene and one location in Bend, Ashland and Corvallis.

Taking over the location of what for years was Burlingame Market in 2002 was Market of Choice's entry into the Portland market after years in and around Eugene. "That's the reason we opened there in the first place, to get our foot into Portland in a way that wasn't overly expensive, that let us try it (Market of Choice) in Portland. Yeah, that was the approach," Wright said.

Burlingame Market, which was known for its beer section and its butcher shop, shared the building with the Mexican restaurant Chez Jose. On September 18, 2001, the store was torched by then-owner Tom Calkins, who was convicted of one count of arson and sentenced to serve seven and a half years in prison. Market of Choice rehabilitated the property and re-opened it on August 28, 2003.

Chez Jose suffered some damage but was back in business quickly after the arson fire and has no plans to close.

Wright says all the current employees on Terwilliger have been offered a chance to work at one of those other stores. "They've all been given the opportunity to come along with us if they want to. From what I've been told a majority of them have decided to," Wright said.

AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS STORY WILL APPEAR IN THE MAY 1 ISSUE OF THE SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY CONNECTION.