Something Big in Store at UW

A 17,000 sq.ft. c-store and market targets new 900-unit apartment complex.

The University of Washington Dining Services lives and dies by its retail approach to dining. Part of its array of offerings has long been its campus Express Market c-stores.

“Our Express Market business has exploded over the last few years,” says Storm Hodge, assistant director of UW Housing and Food Services. “We also knew we were adding hundreds of new apartments, which would only add to this opportunity.”

Indeed, UW has opened some 400 new apartments in the last few years and is slated to add another 900 next year. To accommodate that expanded population, UW Dining in September opened District Market, a 17,000-sq.ft. grocery store in the brand new Alder Hall, smack dab in the middle of that new development.  

The store offers fresh meat, seafood and produce, groceries and sundries as well as a full-service deli, a Husky Grind coffee/ice cream shop and Fire and Ice, a noodle bar and rotating hot food selections.

District Market is open seven days a week from seven in the morning until 1 a.m. and targets the public as well as students and staff. Conveniently, there’s a bus stop just outside the door.

Counts are expected to swell to 2,500 as students become familiar with the new venue.