areas in Burien, Tacoma, Bellevue, and Everett. All but the Everett location were closed by January 19, 1973. The last ad for White Front appeared in The Seattle Times on December 9, 1972. The Everett and Portland stores remained open (the only two locations to remain open outside of California) while the remaining stores' merchandise was liquidated until February 1973. According to a December 14 article in The Seattle Times, the company stated that "the five stores hadn't begun to turn a profit". While the company was quiet about the closures, local factors including the "Boeing Bust", could have played a role in the downturn of the chain in the area. Archives about the company don’t indicate a local distribution center in the Northwest. In an article published by The Seattle Times (on June 16, 1972) General Manager Walter Craig, explained that the stores had yet to make a profit in the Northwest but wanted to retool the stores for the customer base by adding more lights, widening aisles for better traffic flow, repainting the exterior of the building, and restriping the parking lots spending $250,000. The company implemented a "Friedlee" program complete with an elf like mascot to improve customer service. Three of the four closed stores were acquired by Weisfields to become Valu-Mart/Leslie's stores by the end of 1973. The grocery sections were leased to Associated Grocers. The Tacoma store had seen many ownership changes: first as a Valu-Mart/Leslie's store (acquired in February 1973), later a Jafco and then a Best store (currently Michael's). The Burien store became the flagship store for Valu-Mart/Leslie's (currently Fred Meyer). It was acquired from White Front in February 1973. The Burien location is one of the larger stores in the Fred Meyer chain. The North Seattle store became a Kmart (closed in January 2013). The Everett store (appears to have remained opened until the company's complete liquidation in 1974 according to Everett Mall leasing records) was integrated into Everett Mall in 1977 to become a Bon Marché and then Macy's (Macy's recently closed the store). The Bellevue store was acquired by Valu-Mart/Leslie's in November 1973 and became a Fred Meyer as well. The towering store signs used for the locations remain visible at the North Seattle and Tacoma sites. Stores built before 1970 contained a "Discount Foods" grocery store department. Safeway Inc. took ownership of the grocery section in some markets, and