Value Village in Lake City to close April 13, employees say

UPDATE, April 8: Documents filed with the city indicate a six-story mixed use multi-family building with approximately 280 units is expected to be built on the site. A draft plan indicates 260 parking stalls in two semi below grade levels.

Savers, the parents company of Value Village, has not responded to a message sent Friday.

ORIGINAL TEXT: The Value Village in Lake City -- a staple on Lake City Way Northeast since 1970 -- is closing on Saturday, April 13, staff told customers this week.

The store at 12548 Lake City Way N.E. opened on April 17, 1970. Previously the building, constructed in 1957, was a Safeway store.

The reason for the expected closure is unclear. Neighbors said they also were told of the closure by store employees.

Neighbors also said they were told thefts are a factor and that employees said they don't feel safe. The company has not outlined a reason for closing, and not confirmed the closure other than what staff told customers in Lake City.

A spokeswoman for Savers, the parent company of Value Village, did not immediately return an email late Friday afternoon.

The Lake City Value Village sits on a 1.4-acre property valued at nearly $4 million, according to King County property records. The store has 13,746 square feet.

Late last month, a beloved employee at the Lake City Value Village was killed in a hit-and-run collision. Jesse Gurnett, 32, died March 30 at Harborview Medical Center after police said he was hit by a 61-year-old driver near Northeast 127th Street and Lake City Way Northeast. That is the closest intersection to the Lake City Value Village.

“He came into work every day, saying, ‘It's Jesse G on the J-O-B,’” his former retail sales manager, Linda Sexton told KIRO 7 earlier this month. “He touched my heart so deep, and this has just been a whole tragic situation for a whole lot of people.”

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