Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington has announced that it will close two of its Seattle thrift stores. The company cited safety concerns, increasing thefts and rising rents as the main reasons for the decision. (FOX 13)
Secondhand shoppers in Seattle will have to look for new locations to score a bargain after the company announced it will close two stores due to “increasing theft, safety concerns” and “rising rents.”
Evergreen Goodwill in Northwest Washington announced the closures in a blog post on Friday, saying the decision was made because the company was unable to “maintain a safe and sustainable environment for employees and customers.”
“The announcement comes as it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a safe and sustainable environment for employees and customers due to increasing thefts, security concerns and rising rents,” the announcement said.
The two locations – South Lake Union and University District – will officially close on September 22nd.
SEATTLE CREDIT UNION CLOSES LOCATIONS DUE TO CRIME AND INCREASED PEDESTRICULTURE
Two Goodwill retail stores in Seattle are scheduled to close next month. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Derieontay Sparks, senior vice president at Evergreen Goodwill, blamed the decision on the “worrying increase in property damage, break-ins and safety concerns among our employees.”
Business owners in Washington are fed up with crime and are using the Second Amendment to protect themselves
She said these “challenges,” combined with astronomical rental costs, made it “unsustainable” to keep the doors open.
“The decision to close these stores was not made lightly,” Sparks said in the announcement. “Both locations have experienced a disturbing increase in property damage, break-ins and safety concerns for our associates. These challenges, coupled with rising rents and operating costs, have made it unsustainable to continue operating in these areas.”
People living in a homeless tent settlement along Interstate 5 in Seattle. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The closure of the Goodwill stores comes after stores such as Nike, Starbucks and Lululemon closed their locations in the city due to high crime rates in the area.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
According to a recent report from the Seattle City Auditor, Seattle Police received 13,103 calls from the city’s 100 largest retail stores in 2022.
The report found that the thousands of retail-related calls cost officers 18,615 hours, equivalent to the annual full-time work of nine officers.
FOX Business has reached out to Goodwill Industries and the Seattle Police Department for comment.
