PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland-based convenience store chain Green Zebra, known for its focus on healthy groceries and to-go meals, will shut down after 10 years in operation.
The company's three Portland stores will all close on March 31, according to a news release posted to Green Zebra's website Wednesday.
Founder and CEO Lisa Sedlar said the company was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn't been able to keep up with subsequent inflation and other economic challenges.
"We experienced 9 straight quarters of increases to our cost of goods, packaging, fuel, insurance, taxes, freight charges and well, pretty much everything," she said in a statement. "Combine that with supply chain and staffing shortages and razor thin grocery margins, we just couldn’t overcome all the obstacles."
Sedlar founded the company in 2013 after stepping down as CEO of New Seasons Markets. She sought to differentiate the chain by prioritizing fresh and sustainable food over conventional convenience store fare like cigarettes and sodas, and named the chain after a breed of tomato.
The company also touted its record as an employer and local business on Wednesday, stating that it had raised its minimum wage seven times over its 10-year existence and mentioning partnerships with nonprofits like Harper's Playground and Meals on Wheels.
Staff will be paid through March 31, including accrued vacation hours, the company said, and Sedlar said she would work to try to get them hired at other grocery stores.
Green Zebra currently operates one store downtown on the Portland State University campus, one in southeast Portland on Division Street and one in North Portland on Lombard Street.
A Lloyd District location was announced in 2015 as part of the Hassalo on Eighth development. The Oregonian reported in mid-2020 that the company would close the Lloyd and PSU locations due to the pandemic, although the PSU location reopened a year later.
