Image: Ivy Ceballo / The Seattle Times, 2025
On Friday, September 11, the Seattle City Council’s Human Services, Labor, and Economic Development Committee approved legislation to regulate medium and large grocers in the city. The full Council will consider the legislation on September 22.
Washington Retail Association (WR), grocers, and others have expressed concerns about the breadth of the legislation. For the past three months, WR, grocers, and delivery companies have met with the Mayor’s office, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, and other Councilmembers to make improvements in the legislation.
In its current form, the legislation could force grocers to stop offering discounts, coupons, and loyalty programs in the city because those savings are based on the customer’s purchase history. In other words, people who buy cat litter are offered coupons and discounts for litter and people who purchase baby formula receive savings for those products. Coupons and discounts are targeted promotions.
At the Friday committee meeting, John Engber, Director of the Retail Industry Coalition of Seattle, offered public comments urging the Council to protect coupons, discounts, and loyalty programs and the ability of retailers to use cameras and other technology designed to combat violence and organized retail crime. WR continues to meet with Councilmembers to advocate for these priorities.
WR strongly supports banning the use of personal and purchase information to increase prices on consumers. But WR also strongly supports amending the legislation to protect programs that save consumers money. These programs save Seattle consumers tens of millions of dollars annually.
