PCC Community Markets opened its Madison Valley store on Wednesday, October 14, at 2925 E. Madison St. MyNorthwest reported that the opening came after roughly a decade of delays. For anyone in Washington Park who remembers buying tomato starts and bare-root roses on that corner, the address now sells sushi, soup and bulk oats.
The timing also matters on the other side of the neighborhood. The Seattle Japanese Garden, at 1075 Lake Washington Boulevard East, ends its 2026 season on November 29 and closes for winter maintenance through February. That puts the first weeks of the new store on Madison and the last weeks of the Garden on the same short calendar. Between now and the end of November, Washington Park's two edges make one loop.
Ten years at one address
The corner's history explains why the opening drew notice well beyond the neighborhood.
- 1988. City People's Garden Store opened in Madison Valley at 2925 E. Madison, according to Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.
- April 2016. Developer Velmeir Companies announced PCC, then called PCC Natural Markets, as the anchor tenant of a mixed-use building that would replace the garden store. CHS reported that the plan called for an early 2018 opening.
- 2021. After a long land-use dispute between the developer and nearby residents, the project was approved.
- 2022. City People's announced its final growing season. CHS described its lease ending after 34 years on the site.
- April 2026. Ten years to the month after the first announcement, CHS reported that permit paperwork for the grocery build-out was ready. The six-story building, now called The Arbory, was mostly complete.
- October 14, 2026. The store opened on The Arbory's ground floor.
The forecast missed by more than eight years. The building that finally went up is a little bigger than the first plan, too. The 2016 proposal described 75 apartments, and The Arbory has 82.
What opened on October 14
The store takes up most of The Arbory's retail space. The Puget Sound Business Journal, as cited by MyNorthwest, put it at about 24,000 square feet. CHS described a 25,000-square-foot store in its April permit coverage. A second retail space of roughly 1,500 square feet is still available, so one more storefront will eventually join the corner.
PCC's opening announcement lists what this location has:
- Sushi made in-house
- Pizza from PCC's refreshed program, made with local, organic Cairnspring Mills flour and 100% olive oil
- A deli with prepared meals, seasonal salads, sandwiches, hot soups and grab-and-go options made daily
- A large bulk section, plus PCC's house brands and Field Day products for everyday staples
- Produce, meat and seafood, including locally grown organic produce and seasonal products from around the Pacific Northwest
This is PCC's 17th neighborhood store, with about 75 employees. Many of them transferred from other PCC locations. Store Director Nick Novak last ran the Green Lake Village PCC. PCC's store page lists daily hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. A 6 a.m. opening means coffee and a pastry before an early Arboretum walk, and 11 p.m. covers a forgotten carton of milk after dinner. Hours at a brand-new store can change in the first few weeks, so check the page before a late run.
Parking is underground, in The Arbory's 140-car garage.
The crossing neighbors have asked for
Anyone walking down from Washington Park should know about one open request. PCC's announcement says the co-op joined neighbors and local businesses in pushing for a crosswalk signal on Madison Street to improve pedestrian safety and access. The announcement doesn't name an intersection. SDOT's Crossing Improvement Program page, last updated November 2025, says the 2024 transportation levy funds crossing improvements in general. Its list of upcoming projects doesn't include a Madison Valley location.
Before it opened, PCC built ties with the groups that already run this part of town. The announcement names Café Flora, Friends of Madison Park and the Madison Valley Merchants Association. It also says the co-op supported Concerts in the Park and the McGilvra Elementary School auction. Its local donation partners include Bailey-Boushay House, a few blocks away, and The Food Bank @ St. Mary's.
The block west of the store had a harder summer. A fire on July 14 damaged a commercial building in the 2700 block of E. Madison, the building that once housed Essential Bakery. CHS reported that investigators considered it accidental and estimated the damage at $1.5 million. Corner Delights, which had taken over the bakery space, was listed as temporarily closed at the time of that report.
Six weeks, two ends of the neighborhood
The store is brand new and the Japanese Garden is nearly done for the year. These are the dates where the two overlap.
This week, Tuesday through Saturday. The Garden's free volunteer-led tours run at 11 a.m. through the end of October. October also adds a 1 p.m. maple tour on the same days. Tours are capped at 10 visitors and depend on volunteer availability. The Garden's Hatsumomiji fall-color celebration already ran October 1 through 11, so these tours are the last organized maple walks of the year.
Saturday, October 24. The Garden hosts Tea Ceremony: Introduction to Chanoyu, with sessions at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Reservations are required.
Sunday, October 25, noon to 3 p.m. The Madison Valley store holds its Member Month Fair, with local makers, membership information and a free scoop of Northwest-made ice cream. You can go to tea on Saturday and the fair on Sunday and cover both ends of the neighborhood in one weekend.
November 4 through 10. PCC's Fall Food Drive runs at all of its stores, with donations taken at checkout.
Thursday, November 5. This is the best single day of the stretch. The Arboretum Foundation's free monthly walking tour meets at the Graham Visitors Center at 11:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month from January through November, with no registration. November is the last one of 2026. The Japanese Garden's Free First Thursday runs the same day from noon to 4 p.m., with final entry at 3:15. Walk the Arboretum, cross to the Garden for free, and pick up dinner at the deli on Madison on the way home.
Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At the Garden's Family Saturday, admission is free for kids 12 and under.
Sunday, November 29. Last day of the Garden's 2026 season.
On days without a free event, regular adult admission is $10. Youth, seniors, students, adaptive visitors and military pay $6, and children 5 and under get in free.
What the Garden looks like for its final stretch
The new pathway goes where the north-end closures are, so it shapes what you'll see on a late-season visit. The Garden's ishigaki stone wall, the $2.8 million centerpiece of its north-end project, was finished on September 10. Crews are now building an accessible looped walkway along the north end of the central pond. Until the season closes, the Garden is about 80% open, with construction closures at that north end. The Garden recommends its southern sections for anyone who wants quiet, and warns that construction noise can carry. We wrote about the Arboretum's earlier construction schedule in August. This fall the wall is finished, and you can see it from the open paths.
When the Garden closes for the winter on November 30, the store on Madison will still be open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The corner that sold plants for 34 years sells groceries now.
If the new corner on Madison has you thinking about how Washington Park is changing block by block, Exact Home Team is happy to talk it through over coffee, from the new deli or anywhere else. Let's Get Started.
