New chapter for Elliott Bay?
Seattle's iconic Pioneer Square bookstore might move. It could also close. Tough times bring tough choices for the bookseller, and the neighborhood it has helped to revive.
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The Seattle Times is reporting that Elliott Bay Book Company is looking at moving out of Pioneer Square. The Slog reports that the possible new location for the store in on Capitol Hill. I've confirmed with an Elliott Bay source that Capitol Hill is a serious possibility.
While it would be big news for the iconic Elliott Bay to leave the Square, it would have good reasons for doing so. The store has gone through ups and downs, but has struggled in recent years, especially the last two. This is due to changes in the book business, including increased competition from the big chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders, whose Seattle stores can do more than twice Elliott Bay's business. Homegrown retailer Amazon.com has also changed book buyer's habits and made a huge dent in the bookstore's business and altered browser's habits.
On top of that, add the Great Recession which has hit retail business hard. Bookstores like Elliott Bay do most of their year's business in the fourth quarter — the holiday season is make-or-break. Last year, Christmas sales tanked; this year's retail projections aren't much better. Plus, an untimely snowstorm and the botched snowplowing effort last year cost stores like Elliott Bay a lot of business when they could least afford it. Small upticks in summer tourist business are not enough to make up for a slow holiday sales period. The bookstore does not have the deep pockets to keep it rolling through times like these indefinitely.
Then there are the changes in Pioneer Square itself. Elliott Bay has long represented the neighborhood's identity as not only a tourist-friendly historic district, but a place of culture. The surge of galleries and restaurants into the Square in the '70s, and the opening of Elliott Bay in 1973, were part of an urban renaissance that saw the Square as an incubator of the arts and restaurants. The dot-com boom brought some of that back in the late '90s. Over the last 40 years, it was also the site of a renewed interest in downtown living as non-artists moved into lofts to enjoy urban fizz. But Pioneer Square is troubled, and its arts-oriented identity is sliding away. And other neighborhoods have moved to compete for urban mavens.
Walk through the Square now and you'll see vacated store fronts. Earlier this year, it was called "the poster child for the recession," and criticized as being a "less than mediocre public space." The Square is still full of the homeless and shiftless. Even in broad daylight on a weekday, you can feel very unsafe walking through or on the perimeter of Occidental Park. The mix between the new energy brought by arts groups or dot-coms in a neighborhood also designated for social services has been difficult at best. Some local merchants suspect the Square is a dumping ground for problems downtown wants swept from other districts' streets.
If the blend of street life in Pioneer Square is largely the homeless, bar patrons, and seasonal tourists, add to that mix sports fans, not necessarily a book-buying crowd. Not only do sports events keep other patrons and shoppers out of the Square on game days because of traffic and parking, but one Elliott Bay employee told me that they've seen a shift in football fans over the years. There seems to be more drinking on game days now. Seahawks Sundays hurt a key retail day in the important fourth quarter for book sales. Sports stadiums might be good for bar business, but that doesn't do much for the kind of arty, creative energy Pioneer Square once pioneered downtown.
So, Elliott Bay Book Company now seems less of a retail leader than an anomaly in the Square these days, and with its lease in the current space about up, it makes sense they might look for the best deal, even if it means leaving a neighborhood where they have been an anchor tenant, even more, an anchor of neighborhood and urban aspiration.
If Elliott Bay leaves, it won't be the death knell for Pioneer Square, which has been described as "strong yet vulnerable." The neighborhood will move on, but the city should take note: The Square needs some serious attention. For Elliott Bay, moving to the Pike-Pine area of Capitol Hill could be a new lease on life. It could put them in the thick of the action for the next generation of urban development, in an area that is undertaking both a renewed emphasis on preservation and adaptation of older buildings. Density would offer the potential for more nearby customers and fewer problems trying to keep a struggling business afloat in a neighborhood that is wallowing, and that will struggle even more as work on SoDo, Waterfront, and downtown surface streets gets more fully underway. And for Pike-Pine and Capitol Hill, Elliott Bay would be a great catch, a major cultural institution that is a destination for book lovers.
The possible move to Capitol Hill would only partially be a referendum on the respective neighborhoods. It would also be a test of adaptability for the bookstore. Having stayed, and grown, in place for so many decades, it is hard to imagine replicating the character of the old in a new location, and that might not be entirely desirable. As book buyers age, yet with access to more younger readers, could Elliott Bay shed its '70s style and be at home on the Hill? Certainly it would find literary friends being near Hugo House, and Elliott Bay's own nationally recognized author readings could easily adjust to the market. But a major move would likely mean balancing a shift in identity as well as carrying on with what it does best, creating fine habitat for foraging readers.
Still, old bookstores can stumble when they move, even or perhaps especially legendary ones. Losing old customers is a problem; not reconstituting or jelling properly is another. Longtime Seattleites might remember the trials and tribulations that the old Shorey's used bookstore — once a downtown legend a la Portland's Powell's — went through in its struggle to survive, having to move its huge stock. Citizens rallied to "save" Shorey's on several occasions, but with each change, each incarnation, Shorey's seemed to lose customers and a bit of its soul. Eventually it was exiled from downtown to a location off Stone Way, then died. Shorey's challenges weren't the same as Elliott Bay's, but simply moving an icon of the book business is not without risk.
But given Elliott Bay's challenges, and Pioneer Square's, the risk of staying put could be just as fraught. The fact is, without an improvement in business and the retail climate, Elliott Bay could decline or go out of business. If it did, it would be a blow to book lovers in a city of book lovers. It is more pleasant to contemplate a Pioneer Square without Elliott Bay Book Company than to envision Seattle without Elliott Bay.
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Comments:
Posted Sun, Oct 18, 3:58 p.m. Inappropriate
Sad story...another Post-Gutenberg, Post-Literate, tale like many others across the country, with the added effects of local factors, as you mention...and for a town historically ranked among the highest in per capita book sales, not a happy one.
I've felt for years that EBB's location is much more a handicap than an asset (I personally don't venture down there very often, despite being a bookstore junkie), and that EBB even now has failed to move online to any appreciable extent, foregoing a vital distribution channel.
Powell's in Portland did make a strong e-move that I think has helped its bottom line, and of course Powell's enjoys a terrific flagship location and has also added some satellite locations--all of which have helped it (so far) withstand some of the industry's malaise.
Half Price Books, once an interloper from Texas that now can claim solid local citizenship, has carved out a niche with many locations in the greater metro area; it seems to survive, if not thrive, on a high-volume, deep-discount business model, with e-sales mainly through the major online "clearinghouse" channels like Abebooks, Biblio, and even Amazon/Barnesandnoble's own "make-a-nickel-on-every-sale" preperused book scheme. HPB's Capitol Hill location is surrounded by coffee houses and some of the last surviving Seattle residents who still troll for books on a somewhat regular basis.
Whither print? Can anything reKindle the newspaper, the magazine, the book, and the various retailers who love and sell them to the readers who love and buy them? Or are these just quaint artifacts of a dead and dead-end technology?
Maybe next you can fill us in on the state of another favorite browser's citystop, the Seattle news and magazine stand...
Posted Sun, Oct 18, 4:44 p.m. Inappropriate
You've got Mail?
Posted Sun, Oct 18, 5:05 p.m. Inappropriate
If Elliott Bay Books just wants to downsize then I presume they could make arrangements with their present landlord but if they want a more genteel location then the choice of Capital Hill puzzles me. I can't think of any other big retail moves to Capital Hill. What am I missing? actually, I guess it's more like Capital Hill/First Hill but even so, mysterious.
Posted Sun, Oct 18, 7:03 p.m. Inappropriate
Sensible as always, Skip, but another change-is-good angle to consider is that readings & author appearances at the Pioneer Square location have essentialy been off-limits to all but the most stubbornly tenacious wheelchair users. Those events are totally inaccessible, and while Elliott Bay management & staff have been as helpful as possible, they can't put in an elevator (and aren't obligated to do so due to grandfathering laws) and that results in serious cultural deprivation for the disabled. The bookstore is street-entry accessible, but the events in the cellar might as well be on the moon for the disabled. Now that I use a motorized chair I don't even have the option of being lifted down that treacherous flight of stairs. I love the Pioneer Square location, but a move to Capital Hill would be a godsend for disabled patrons. - Jeff Shannon
Posted Mon, Oct 19, 11:51 a.m. Inappropriate
Let's face it, Knute lays out compelling reasons for a move. The frat-boy partiers in PS, the rude and unruly (too often overly inebriated) sports fans simply make venturing to that 'hood less than pleasant.
Panhandling and homelessness will still be present on CH, but the proximity of Hugo House, Town Hall, art galleries and good restaurants all make for a more diverse experience and a more compatible fit for EBBCo than their current situation.
Plus, as someone who takes Metro, I have passed up plenty of intriguing readings at EBBCo simply because I didn't want to deal with the lack of bus service in that sketchy neighborhood at 9P. Capitol Hill has terrific bus access and more normal life on the streets.
As much as I would hate to see EBBCo vacate that iconic, rustic space in PS, I am really hoping the move happens.
Posted Mon, Oct 19, 3:21 p.m. Inappropriate
We'd gladly take them in Ballard, esp since we've lost nearly all of our bookstores and have several ground floors of big condo buildings to fill!! Come to Ballard, EBBCo!
Posted Mon, Oct 19, 4:35 p.m. Inappropriate
Alack, I fear that the population of this city is half composed of tech-junkies who just have to read everything on an i-Berry and half of people who truly mourn the loss of print environments in their city but who for whatever reason can't keep up a sustained effort to support the things they value, like local, independent businesses. Our dollar is our most impactful vote, it's that simple.
@Seneca, about newsstands, I've written about one of the oldest in Seattle. Beware: biased reporting ahead:
http://bythedarkofthemoon.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/ninety-years-of-news-on-third-avenue/
Matt
Posted Mon, Oct 19, 11:25 p.m. Inappropriate
just move to the P/P. the p square location is not working anymore. That neighborhood, at this time is foreign Seattle. I am sad for the move, due to nostalgia, but would rather see a beloved economic icon survive than move on to say, oklahoma (aka irrelevant).
Posted Wed, Oct 21, 2:09 p.m. Inappropriate
I recently moved to Pioneer Square after 16 years on Capitol Hill. Being a regular customer of Bailey-Coy on Broadway, I found that having EBBC in my new neighborhood to be a fantastic consolation. To now hear that they and considering moving to my old neighborhood (which I rarely visit now), fills me with a deep sadness not only for myself, but for everyone who lives in Pioneer Square. As an artist, I regularly go to Elliot Bay not only to buy books, but for inspiration: Something that's hard to get from online store. And so I buy from Elliot Bay instead of online stores because having a brick and mortar store is a thousand times better. I've only lived in Pioneer Square a year, but I can already see how EBBC is of enormous value to the character of our Pioneer Square community. I do feel like the concerns of Pioneer Square's residents and creative community has been repeatedly ignored by local government and city planners in favor of sports fans. It annoys me that some sports bars can take over 80% of the width of the sidewalk, forcing local residents to basically walk in the street to get around them. Any why is there no zoned parking for residents anywhere in pioneer square? Trying to find parking here during a game day making parking in Capital Hill look easy. Thank God for buses and light rail, I just wish more sports fans used them.
As for Arzu's statement that there is a lack of bus service to Pioneer Square after 9 pm... I find that difficult to believe. There are buses running up and down 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th avenues until well after 10pm, not to mention light rail stops in Pioneer Square and on Jackson. And as for people's fear of Occidental Park... get over it. I've never once had a single problem of any kind walking through Occidental Park even late at night. I find the drunk and belligerent sports fans and club hoppers much more dangerous and aggressive than any homeless people in Pioneer Square.
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