New 'Basics Market' Format Takes Aim at Portland

A new small-format grocery store is posed to invade the Portland, Ore., market with interactive features such as an in-house nutrition classroom and discovery kitchen. 

Basics Market will open later this summer with aspirations to open a second location in Tualatin, Ore., by the end of the year and a third in Beaverton, Ore., in 2019. 

The 7,500-square-foot store will aim to help shoppers create healthy meals at home through innovative strategies such as organizing ingredients by recipes at five meal stations developed by a nutritionist and on-site culinary director. The retailer said it would keep its shelves lean, with only a few offerings in every category and local and sustainable suppliers prioritized and fresh items delivered daily. 

The endeavor is backed by Pacific Foods founder Chuck Eggert, whose family farm will supply the majority of the meat, poultry and eggs carried at Basics by the end of the year. 

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“We think one of the best things for your health is to cook your own food, and that the most nourishing ingredients you can use are in season, grown locally,” said Eggert. “One of the ways we saw to help people get the best nutrition was to make what we grow and raise here in Oregon more accessible, and we’re working with others to do the same.”

Additionally, a third of the store will be dedicated primarily to hands-on education programs with a full calendar of classes offered daily and an in-store nutritionist available to help shoppers make the healthiest choices. 

Of particular note, the new store will neighbor The Portland Clinic, which will use the retailer's resources to help its patients improve their health conditions through healthy eating. 

“When you have the skills to cook your own meals and a little nutrition guidance, you’re really taking your health into your own hands,” said Store Manager Erin Leiker. “What’s important to all of us is fostering heath and connections in the store, around the table and at the farm. That’s what attracted me to Basics.”