Shoppers at the Mountlake Terrace QFC have likely seen their last plastic grocery bags at the store’s checkout stations as the company’s parent company, Kroger, is eliminating the single-use bags as an option for customers.

Store employees confirmed that the Mountlake Terrace QFC has not purchased any plastic bags from suppliers lately and that once their current inventory of bags is exhausted – perhaps as early as Tuesday morning — there will be no more to offer to customers.

Kroger announced last August a plan to eliminate single-use plastic bags in all of its stores by 2025. QFC is the first among the company’s stores brands to transition away from plastic bags, announcing earlier this month that the bags would no longer be available beginning on Monday, April 1. Some stores, like the Mountlake Terrace QFC, will be out of the plastic bags before Monday.

QFC President Suzy Monford said the elimination of plastic bags is being done for environmental concerns.

“With Earth Day approaching, we saw this as the perfect opportunity to eliminate plastic bags and take the next step in our Zero Hunger / Zero Waste journey,” Monford said in a March 20 press release. “We listen closely to our customers and our communities, and we agree with their growing concerns about continuing to rely on use-once, throw-it-away plastic bags. More and more, customers are telling us that using a bag once and throwing it away just doesn’t make sense.”

QFC will still make available paper bags for customers use at all their stores. The company will also have reusable bags offered for purchase and is planning on donating $1 for each reusable bag sold during the month of April (up to $10,000) to The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect local lands and water.

In addition to their store at 228th Street Southwest and Cedar Way in Mountlake Terrace, QFC also has locations in Edmonds (22828-100th Avenue West) and Lynnwood (7500-196th Street Southwest and 17525 Highway 99).

— By Doug Petrowski