Stockbox: The Cure For a South Seattle ‘Food Desert’

By Rachel Belle

Photo by Jessa Lewis.

Listen to Stockbox: The Cure For a South Seattle ‘Food Desert’

There are pockets of neighborhoods all over America that don’t have access to grocery stores selling fresh foods. They’re called ‘food deserts’ and the people who live in them often end up eating a lot of food from convenience stores or fast food restaurants because it’s easier than going to a fully stocked store. That’s why Carrie Ferrence co-created Stockbox, a 500-square-foot grocery store in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood.

“Stockbox is a small grocery store that’s packed full of fresh produce, grocery staples and prepared meals in order to improve access to good food in communities.”

Sage, a South Park dad, says there isn’t a good grocery store within walking distance, and it can take several buses to get to a store.

“It’s an opportunity that everybody that I know has been waiting for, for a long time. This neighborhood has a few stores that are walkable but I’ve never been comfortable going in them and I don’t care for the prices or the atmosphere. A lot of it is just buying beer and cigarettes.”

There aren’t any cigarettes at Stockbox, just a small selection of beer and wine, and the tiny space is stocked with 800 staple and niche items for everyday cooking.

Stockbox clerk and South Park resident Paul Hagopian.

“The first thing you see when you walk in to Stockbox is the produce section from Charlie’s Produce [and] locally sourced from Marra Farms, which is a farm in the South Park community,” Carrie says. “We’re working with them to integrate local produce as much as possible in our first store.”

Stockbox just opened last Wednesday, but the White House has already acknowledged it’s smart business model. Carrie hopes to expand locally and then nationally, filling food deserts with these food oases.

“We’re looking at both putting stores into existing storefronts but also also into a reclaimed shipping container that then is dropped into a parking lot of an existing business. In either case they’re going to be around 500 square feet,” says Carrie. “It’s actually the size of a traditional corner store.”

Stockbox even gets the stamp of approval from Sage’s young daughter Galaxy.

“Yay, I like this grocery store because it’s very organized and it’s very clean! I love fruits and I love tomatoes!”

Click here to find information on Stockbox.