Rising From the Ashes
The research is clear: when kids eat a family dinner at home 3-4 days a week, it lowers their chances of obesity, depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders. It also directly correlates to higher self-esteem and better grades.
But who has the time to prepare meals that the whole family will want to eat? Enter Stephanie King, Founder of Kitchen & Market.
King has always been passionate about how food brings people together and builds community. After 16 years in the private label retail grocery world, she wanted to do something entrepreneurial, hands-on, high-quality, and would answer the age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” Five stores, 1000’s of products, and tens of thousands of meals later, King is only just beginning.
Kitchen & Market launched its flagship store at Seattle’s Pike Place Market in November 2021. A good time for home cooking, but a precarious time to start a business. “I wanted to make home cooking feel less like an obligation and more like a source of comfort,” King says. “Not aspirational, but practical, delicious, and human.”
The result is an intimate, solution-based shopping experience: pre-portioned, restaurant-quality meals that come together in about 30 minutes alongside pantry staples, prepared foods, fresh produce, and curated local brands. The response was impressive and immediate. So much so that Stephanie began expanding into some of the city’s finest neighborhoods: Mercer Island, Medina, Madison Valley. Momentum followed, but not everything went according to plan. Just over a year after opening on Mercer Island, a fire brought its operations to a stop. “That was particularly hard on us because we were a small business with just three stores. We lost over a third of our revenue overnight. And, as any Seattle business owner knows, costs are rising and consumers are spending less.
All of this would have been a serious challenge for any business, but then King received news that made it all pale in comparison. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. Julie Stead, partner at Turning Point and a breast cancer survivor, sums it up, “Leading through personal and professional crisis is a challenge that, thankfully, very few of us face, but
Stephanie’s strength, perseverance, and desire to know more and do better are incredibly impressive. We are honored to be on her team and are awed by her resilience.”
King reached out to Turning Point when she needed financial clarity for Kitchen & Market and financial leadership to help her navigate these difcult times. “Leading during periods of upheaval means that you must have fast, accurate information that you can rely on. You must make decisions quickly, but you also have to be confident you have the information you need to make them smart,” says Stead.
Rather than reflexively rebuilding, King has focused on stabilizing the broader business. She sought to protect cash, preserve team energy, and stay grounded in the core drivers of her success.
Kitchen & Market remains focused on earning its place with customers. Meal kits continue to evolve with new
recipes designed around seasonality, family-friendly flavors, and speed. In-store assortments shuffle, balancing private-label products with standout local brands. Online, the company engages more than 10,000 followers on Instagram (@kitchenandmarket), creating content that is just as much about staying connected as it is about supporting sales.
“There were moments where just keeping the doors open felt like enough,” King says. “Now, I’m focused on building something that can last, even when life throws everything at you.”
With clearer financial systems in place and a business model that has been solidly tested, Kitchen & Market is positioned not just to survive this chapter but to decidedly thrive.
