To only be the sixth stewards in 125 years, there’s a bit of a responsibility there to get it right, and that’s exactly what we’re going to attempt to do.”

Yos Ligtenberg, co-owner of Aldrich’s Market

Aldrich's Market

940 Lawrence St.
Port Townsend, WA 98368

After a brief hiatus, Aldrich’s Market, a landmark of Port Townsend’s Uptown District, is coming back under new ownership. 

For a few months, it seemed as if Aldrich’s reign as the oldest continuously operated grocery store under one name in Washington had come to an end. In its 125 years of existence, it had survived two devastating fires — one in 1900, the other in 2003 — a location change, and numerous economic recessions, among other challenges.

However, the economic impacts of COVID-19 were too much to overcome. This past April, the market closed its doors, with no plans to reopen. Its previous owners cited the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic as being the final blow to their business, which they said was already suffering due to competition from Port Townsend’s larger grocery stores. 

Just weeks after the market shut down, a party interested in leasing the space and the business reached out to the owner of the building. They were siblings Yos Ligtenberg and Christa Ligtenberg of Port Townsend and Rachel Ligtenberg of Seattle. Within weeks, they had signed a lease with the intent to re-open Aldrich’s Market under the same name.

The new owners were handed the keys to the two-story market space on July 1, and reconstruction of the interior space began shortly thereafter. 

The Ligtenbergs aim to start stocking shelves in mid-August and re-open the store in early September.

The Ligtenbergs are in the process of building their team and said they are retaining about half of Aldrich’s former staff of 25 full-time employees. 

The chefs at Sushi Ichiba, the popular sushi restaurant formerly located on the second floor of Aldrich’s, will be returning as well, this time in a space incorporated into the market’s ground floor. 

Yos Ligtenberg has been meeting with potential food and produce suppliers for the last few weeks as he and his sisters build a product list. 

Their goal, Ligtenberg said, is to provide the community with the basics at a fair price while offering as many local and organic products as possible, all while creating an inviting space for the community.

“To only be the sixth stewards in 125 years, there’s a bit of a responsibility there to get it right, and that’s exactly what we’re going to attempt to do,” he said. “Our primary focus is to create an absolutely joyous and abundant place where people are going to leave with big smiles on their faces.”

“Much of our motivation is to bring it back to some of its original glory and good feeling,” Christa Ligtenberg said. 

“I think that’s the first thing we need to do, we need to do it right. We do have some lofty aspirations but I think our first job is just to get this market right,” she added.