Wedgwood in Seattle History

The Jasper which opened in 2012 was the first new apartment building in Wedgwood in more than sixty years.

Grocery stores in Wedgwood expanded with the growth of the neighborhood in the post-World-War-Two period of the 1940s and 1950s.

Beginning with the economic downturn called the Boeing Bust in the 1970s, grocery stores and some other kinds of stores declined along with the economy, and there were fewer locally-owned small businesses in Wedgwood.

The year 2012 brought in a new era with a new apartment building in Wedgwood’s 35th Avenue NE commercial core, and its live-work units at the sidewalk level, some which have businesses operating out of them.

The story of grocery stores keeps changing, and in 2021 it was announced that Wedgwood’s QFC at 8400 35th Ave NE would close on April 24th.  This store building had been originally built by Tradewell in 1959 and was the first store at that corner (before the Wedgwood Broiler restaurant was built.) The store was Matthew’s Red Apple 1989-1999 and was QFC from 2000 to 2021.

There has been a grocery store at the corner of NE 85th Street in Wedgwood since 1959, first Tradewell, then Matthew’s Red Apple, then QFC.  The QFC closed in 2021.

In 2022 a developer, Security Properties, announced interest in buying the entire shopping complex, tearing down all of the buildings and re-doing it.  They were going to build a new grocery building closest to the corner of NE 85th Street, with apartments on the rest of the block.  But in January 2026 suspension of the project was announced, due to economic issues.  The developer needed an investment partner because the project would be so costly.  It remains to be seen whether the redevelopment project at NE 85th Street will ever go ahead.  At this writing (January 2026) there is a discount store in the former QFC, and the other shops in the complex are still open including the Wedgwood Broiler restaurant, Van Gogh coffee, a hair salon and nail salon.

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