From: Izzie L.
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2026 1:53 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Support for Grocery Outlet at Former Rite Aid Site Hello
I live in Sebastopol (on Dowd Dr, Lynch and Jewell) and am writing to express that I am in favor of Grocery Outlet (“GO”) opening here in our city.
Currently I drive to Santa Rosa to visit the GO there, where I find great value. I, and many other residents, cannot afford the Whole Paychecks, Community Markets. I currently patronize Safeway but even THEY are expensive compared to GO. And if you enjoy wine, their prices are AFFORDABLE.
With prices going up across the board from gas to food to everything else, we need to spend wisely. Grocery Outlet is my kind of store. It will be a great addition to our town.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.
A Dowd Drive resident.
P.S. I found this online and it SPEAKS FOR ME, I agree 100%:
I wrote this to Jamey who is mounting a campaign to prevent G.O. from occupying the old Rite Aid site in Sebastopol "Thank you for this opportunity to share my point of view with you. But first a couple of questions... Is Safeway local? Is Whole foods local? Is Lucky's local? Is CVS local? Is 7/11 local? Is Rotten Robbie's local? Is Chevron local? Was Rite Aid local? Grocery Outlet is at least is locally owned by a member of the community. We see and interact with the owners of the SR and Petaluma stores almost every time we shop there. At least some of the money we spend there stays in the community I would think. I'm pretty sure EVERYONE that lives in Sebastopol shops out of town regularly. We all go to Trader Joe's, Costco, Oliver's and Grocery Outlet. I know all of my friends and neighbors do. I do and I bet you do too. I am pretty dedicated to shopping at Community Market, but I do go out of town to shop occasionally. Is the resistance to having a local G.O. connected to "class"? I get that, but I think that's also one of the things I love about G.O. It attracts people from all levels of education and income.
Sebastopol is pretty white, middle class, boomer oriented and EXPENSIVE. It's nice to get out of that bubble and experience people from all walks of life and different levels of income. Also I find that the owners are accessible, unlike so many other grocery stores. For current and potential store "owners" ...."The Grocery Outlet's mission statement is "Changing lives for the better" and we empower you to change lives by using your store to support local organizations and causes that you are passionate about." I like Grocery Outlet's business model, empowering local families to own their own grocery store so that the owner has a stake in the local community. I enjoy shopping at G.O. and I'm educated, progressive and have been a local since 1967. Let the people of Sebastopol decide if they want to support a local G.O. by allowing the store to open at the former Rite Aid site. The prices alone will make G.O. very attractive for many. Is Sebastopol too “special" for that?