Retail
The Art of Eating Well
For a quarter century, Francia Russell and Kent Stowell, artistic directors of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, stood at the summit of Seattles cultural elite. Russell had made the companys ballet school one of the finest in the country; Stowell among his many achievements, choreographed Seattles holiday favorite, Nutcracker. They had three sons. The youngest, Ethan,…
Presenting a ‘Destination’ Starbucks
The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room opened today at the corner of Pike and Minor in a repurposed 1920s auto-row building on Capitol Hill, offering a multipurpose experience dramatically different from the customary wait-in-line Starbucks procedure. One cannot order a pumpkin spice or eggnog latte at the Roasterys cafe bar. In fact, typical Starbucks…
Trade: Keeping the Port of Seattle Afloat
For years, pundits, politicians and critics have been nagging the ports of Seattle and Tacoma to stop competing and start cooperating with one another against ports of the West, Gulf and East Coasts that are grabbing or threatening to grab a greater share of the North American seaborne freight market.Now the ports have complied with…
Brand Awareness: Want Your Product to Pop?
Seattle has a feeble presence when it comes to the kind of brands you find in the supermarket. That world is dominated by giant companies like New York-based PepsiCo, Chicago-based Kraft Foods and Minneapolis-based General Mills. But food conglomerates are beginning to find local companies an attractive source of new growth. Sahale Snacks, a Seattle…
On Reflection: America’s New Pastime
Since the early days of pinball, arcade gamers have been competing for top spots on the high score charts. In the 1990s, the internet changed competitive gaming entirely, allowing people to play their favorite games against each other in teams. Since then, competitive gaming has created hundreds of cash-prize competitions. Bellevue-based Valve Corporation put Seattle…
Filsons New Owner Honors a Rich Heritage
The Filson flagship store sits on Fourth Avenue South near Safeco Field, at the base of an off-ramp taking motorists away from the tangle of elevated roadways leading to the interstate. Most people drive past with nary a glance at the store or a clue about the retail wonderland inside or the legacy of the…
Spotlight: Dock Holiday
When summer ultimately arrives in Seattle, owning a boat seems like a genius idea. Imagine tooling around Lake Washington every weekend, sailing up to the San Juans or just buzzing over to Bainbridge. The sun shines; the water sparkles. Unfortunately, for most of the year the boat sits at the dock racking up marina fees….
On Reflection: Many Visits, Lots of Likes
Expect another outstanding year for Seattles tourism business thanks to a healthier economy, Seattles rising popularity as a destination and the growing number of flights into Sea-Tac Airport. Expedia, for example, says that, at the end of April, it had already booked 37 percent more room nights in Seattle for July than it had in…
A Matter of Firm Guidance?
Jon Scholes likes to say that downtown Seattleites are so blessed with gorgeous scenery they settle for sub-par public spaces in their downtown core. Other cities dont have Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, Mount Rainier right in their backyard like we do, says Scholes, who is vice president of advocacy and economic development at the…
On Reflection: A Rolodex for Restaurateurs
Tate Rogers, who owned Nectar Lounge in Fremont for nearly a decade before selling a year and a half ago, has created a new vendor management tool called Tates List a sort of little black book to help with some of the major pain points in the restaurant industry. Rogers has backing from James Weimann…
The Battle for Seattle: Alaska vs. Delta
When the Seattle Seahawks returned to Sea-Tac Airport after winning the Super Bowl, a Delta Airlines flight attendant waved a blue 12th Man flag from the cockpit window as the plane taxied to the terminal. For the Atlanta-based airline, it was much more than a victory flight after the biggest sporting event in America. It…
Drugstore Drama: Bartell warily eyes CVS
An already crowded Puget Sound-region retailing sector is about to become even more so.CVS Pharmacy is the largest drugstore chain in the United States when measuring by number of locations, but none of its 7,400 stores are situated in Washington state. That status will change in August when CVS opens a store in Renton. A…