Truesdell at The Naked Grocer

The Naked Grocer hopes enough of Capitol Hill will add some new grocery store habits.

“How willing are we to change? I have faith people are willing to meet me in the middle,” founder Jayne Truesdell said Tuesday standing inside the newly open low-waste grocery store at the corner of Pine and Boylston.

Truesdell’s business of bulk bins, spice shelves, and fresh baked goods and produce will survive if only a fraction of the thousands of apartment dwellers who live within a few blocks of the new grocery decided to add the Naked Grocer to their regular routines around buying groceries.

But it will mean new habits and a willingness to stand still while filling your bottle as package-less liquid soap flows from a spigot or scooping just enough coconut flour for your cookie recipe.

CHS reported here in July 2021 on the early plans for the “waste-less” grocery. Truesdell, who cut her entrepreneurial teeth working with Autumn Martin to grow Seattle’s Hot Cakes, has transformed the space previously the longtime home of Capitol Loans which can now be found across the street.

The new Naked Grocer looks like the bulk bins from your favorite co-op neatly took over the store — aisles of scoop bins, shelves of spice jars, and racks of silver cisterns full of liquids from honey to detergent.

It might also remind you a bit of some of your favorite parts of the Central Co-op because of another important factor — a few of the new Naked Grocers are Central alum who decided to move over to the new grocery project.

Much of the inventory is sourced through the Puget Sound Food Hub which gives The Naked Grocer easy access to local farms and providers. The secret ingredient is Truesdell’s work to add unique and heirloom items directly from independent providers to round out the grocery’s selections.

You’ll play the same memory games for marking your selections with the proper bin codes and shoppers can use pre-weighed containers available at the store or bring their own. Truesdell has added a nifty and not too cumbersome weight tag system to allow shoppers to more easily use their own jars and bottles.

There are opening hiccups to overcome including a valuable lesson not to put raw almonds in the new almond butter grinding machine. And first-time shoppers might end up wrestling with an overflowing container of liquid soap if they don’t shut down the tap in time.

Prices, meanwhile, are “competitive with PCC,” Truesdell says, noting that The Naked Grocer is finishing up the process to offer SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Washington purchases.

Truesdell’s hope for serving Naked Grocer shoppers is to “meet them where they are.” That means a small selection of items with reduced packaging like energy bars that were just too impractical or expensive to offer in the bulk bins.

It also means there is meat next to the dairy case. Truesdell said one of the biggest changes as the Naked Grocer came together came from hearing from potential customers that they would like to be able to buy more sustainable meat. Truesdell settled on fresh frozen cuts and filets from small providers. Yes, the chicken is wrapped in plastic. It’s part of meeting the customer where they are.

“People wanted access to it,” Truesdell said, “What’s the best version you can get?”

The Naked Grocer is now open at 620 E Pine. For hours and to learn more, check out nakedgrocer.com.

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