OPENINGS AROUND THE SOUND

A look at the area's new stores

Posted June 2004

Brainy Seattle checks out a new library
According to a survey done last year at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Seattle is the nation's second-most-literate city, beaten only by Minneapolis. The survey also revealed Seattle to be first in educational attainment (defined as the percentage of adults with high school or bachelor's degrees) and first in the number of booksellers.

So it makes perfect sense that Seattle has constructed a brand new library, and that it has its own distinctive style and utilizes cutting-edge technology. The new 11-story, 362,987-square-foot steel-and-glass Seattle Public Library, which sits on Fourth Avenue between Spring and Madison Streets, has the ability to house up to 1.4 million items on its nearly 10,000 shelves. The non-fiction collection is reached through a four-story "book spiral," a system unlike any in the country. There are several floors of books; a 10th-floor reading room that delivers a view of the cityscape; a floor of meeting rooms, the entrance to which is marked by a glossy red hallway; stairs and escalators set off by canary-yellow walls; an automated book circulation system; an auditorium and a series of artistic touches.

The construction of the new library meant an investment of $165.5 million on the part of the city, and it will likely pay off; during its first year, the library anticipates welcoming more than 8,000 visitors a day (approximately 2.8 million visitors per year). If those numbers actualize, the library's daily visits will have doubled; prior to the remodel, there were about 4,000 visitors per day. For retailers operating in Seattle's downtown core, those numbers could be a real page-turner.

Speaking of page-turners: on its opening day in late May, the new library welcomed approximately 28,000 visitors.

Spotlight: South Lake Union
Doors are opening, or are about to open, in the South Lake Union neighborhood, thanks to available space through Vulcan Inc. The owners of Irish Emigrant in the University District will introduce its new concept, Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub. The owners of Fremont's Still Life Bistro will open a bistro called Henry's. Uptown Espresso plans to open a coffee house there this summer. A new caf³ called Rosalind's recently opened for business. And boat dealership West Coast Frogs will sell Italian-made Zar brand boats at Chandler's Cove marina.

All of this is good news given the area's new 162-unit apartment complex and planned office space. Vulcan's new office buildings will be home for approximately 600 employees of the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and Rosetta Inpharmatics/Merck. Later this year, that number will more than double as a result of Tommy Bahama's headquarters and University of Washington medical labs moving into the area.

Barnes & Noble signed a contract with West Seattle's Westwood Village. By mid-next year, a 26,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble is anticipated, as well as a Starbucks caf³. At present, New York-based Barnes & Noble operates several hundred bookstores and B. Dalton Bookseller locations nationwide, including 17 in Western Washington.

Costco announced plans to open a warehouse store in Woodinville next February. The new 148,000-square-foot location, which will include a gas station and parking for 700 cars, will stand on a 15-acre lot near the intersection of State Route 522 and the Snohomish-Woodinville Road. It is expected to employ more than 300 people. The company also publicized plans to begin construction this summer on a new 156,000-square-foot warehouse store in Seattle's SoDo (south of downtown) neighborhood, which will replace a smaller store there. The existing store at that location was the company's first when it opened in 1983. Last but not least, Costco also intends to open a new warehouse store in Gig Harbor by November 2005 as well as a Costco Home store in Tempe, Arizona later this year. The company has also been experimenting with the concept of warehouse stores in shopping malls, and expects to test the idea further. Costco currently operates 14 warehouse stores, two business centers, a Costco Home location and a Costco Depot within the Puget Sound region.

Lowe's announced plans to open a 162,000-square-foot home improvement center in Kent, making it the anchor tenant of an anticipated 362,000-square-foot development on a 30-acre site. Construction on the new Lowe's will begin this fall with opening day set for spring 2005. Additional retail and restaurant uses will be added to the complex as it develops.

Sephora, a national chain offering beauty products and fragrances, opened in downtown Seattle. The 5,200-square-foot space carries a wide array of product lines, including NARS, Bare Escentuals, Benefit and Dessert, which is Jessica Simpson's new cosmetics line.