Truesdell at the grocery’s opening in 2022

One of Capitol Hill’s most ambitious retail experiments is coming to an end.

The Naked Grocer and its low-waste approach to shopping will shut down to end 2023.

“I started realizing it was a possibility that we would need to close around the middle of November—up until then, I held out hope things would turn around,” owner Jayne Truesdell told CHS about the decision. “Our sales steadily declined throughout the fall and it ultimately came down to the amount of money coming in versus the amount of money going out.”

Truesdell said the Naked Grocer has been operating at a “solid loss.” She said the sales needed to create a thriving business would have to be about double, and that the amount of growth needed does not feel possible.

The closure comes after a year and a half of business for the package-free grocery shopping concept. CHS reported here on the summer 2022 opening of The Naked Grocer and hopes its bulk bins, spice shelves, and fresh baked goods and produce would survive and thrive if only a fraction of the thousands of apartment dwellers who live within a few blocks of the store decided to add it to their regular routines around buying groceries.

Truesdell, who cut her entrepreneurial teeth working with Autumn Martin to grow Seattle’s Hot Cakes, transformed the space which was previously the longtime home of Capitol Loans which can now be found across the street. The goal was to achieve a low-waste retail grocery environment while keeping prices competitive to chains like PCC and also, Truesdell said at the time, meeting customers “where they are” by bringing the store to the expensive but densely populated blocks of Pike/Pine.

The new Naked Grocer built itself around a familiar core of bulk bins like you might find in your favorite co-op with aisles of scoop bins, shelves of spice jars, and racks of silver cisterns full of liquids from honey to detergent.

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

The grocery made what turns out to be a final big push this fall as Truesdell added cafe offerings like avocado toast and a juice bar to try to increase foot traffic into the E Pine shop and boost the struggling business. “Initially, it did bring in some more people and I do think we would have done even worse without it, but the difference it made in revenue was relatively small,” Truesdell said.

The Naked Grocer announced the coming closure last week. From now until the end of the month, the store will continue to stock its main selections of bulk food items, produce, milk, and bread. With the holidays, The Naked Grocer is also especially hoping to sell remaining goods that make for good stocking stuffers and gifts.

“The store needs your support now more than ever to wrap up our financial responsibilities. It has been very quiet this past fall and we need your help to make these last couple of weeks count,” the announcement read.

The space built out for The Naked Grocer will soon be ready for a new tenant on the block developer Asana Partners has slowly been trying to build into a neighborhood core. More change will come around the corner where  Henry’s Gym is coming to Boylston Ave in a project that will convert all three stories of the The Boylston Garage building into a new-era fitness facility complete with the latest workout equipment — and a bar.

Looking into the new year, Truesdell said she’s hoping to take on a full-time job to help pay off the Small Business Administration loan taken out to jumpstart the business.

“We are going to have a lot of debt to manage going forward,” Truesdell said.

Truesdell says she will miss being a business owner on Capitol Hill and the opportunity to support local food vendors and sow money back into the community—and the community itself.

“I love our customers so much and I’ve loved being a small part of their lives,” Truesdell said.

The Naked Grocer is located at 620 E Pine. Learn more at nakedgrocer.com.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE THIS SPRING
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻 
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍