Portland’s Chown Hardware Makes Seattle Debut

Chown Hardware is the country’s oldest family-owned hardware retailer

Chown Hardware, the country’s oldest family-owned hardware retailer, is making its Seattle debut with a showroom in the SoDo neighborhood.

The SoDo showroom is Portland-based Chown Hardware’s third location. Designed by Weedman Design Partners, the two-story showroom showcases the company’s offerings using minimalist interiors and a flexible layout. The showroom’s vignettes feature a usable kitchen, lighting and bathroom fixtures with running water. The vignette also has a handwashing station using Waterworks’ faucets to ensure the health and safety of customers due to Covid-19.

Though the showroom opened in July, Chown Hardware implemented Covid-19 safety measures in the past month by installing the handwashing station at the entrance.

The showroom also features a mural of Eleanor Chown, the company’s “matriarch” who conceived the original Portland showroom in 1971, bringing the company into the “luxury market” of high-end interior design.

“You can stand in the middle of the showroom and say it’s a culmination of her design from the mid-century,” said Chown Hardware’s brand and marketing manager, Nathanael Chown. “She would be really proud. It lets her vision and design have its moment. That’s a really special thing for me and a very important capstone for the growth on this side of the business.”

Chown Hardware’s SoDo showroom is located at 2920 First Ave. South. The company also has a Bellevue showroom, located at 12001 N.E. 12th St.