Can downtown Seattle keep its mix of big and small retailers?

Eighth Generation, an art and lifestyle brand in downtown Seattle, has been shaped by Indigenous hands since its founding in 2008.

The store, owned by the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, sells Native-designed blankets, accessories and home goods near Pike Place Market. While the prime location means easy access to passersby, especially during cruise season, it also comes with costly rent and other higher expenses.

It's a challenge, though, because we are in Seattle," said Michelle Brown, creative director and chief product officer, who identifies as Diné. "That is going to be a little bit more expensive for a smaller brand versus a bigger chain store."

The pressure is on for small businesses and national chains alike. Even as the city and boosters vie for more commercial tenants, they're contending with a revolving door of retailers opening and closing downtown.

In recent years, large-scale brands like Nike, The North Face and Saks OFF 5th shuttered their downtown storefronts. But the area has also clinched a few wins, including the addition of Uniqlo and the expansion of Arc'teryx. Most recently, Barnes & Noble made its long-awaited return, opening its doors Wednesday.

Small businesses feel the crunch, too - and without the fiscal cushion that most corporate chains can lean on. Can they survive in downtown Seattle?

Many small-business operators see the pros of being in the heart of the city. The urban core drives foot traffic, particularly during the summer boom, and the presence of national brands attracts shoppers year-round. But this advantage comes with worries about affordability and public safety that could eventually drive more financially fragile ventures out.

The area is at "an inflection point" right now, said Joe Nguyen, CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Big and small businesses are necessary to create a healthy ecosystem, he added.

"Downtown, specifically, I still think, is one of the most economically important places in the Pacific Northwest," Nguyen said, but "we're seeing a level of exhaustion from small-business owners."

'Can't afford that'

Despite some gains in recent years, downtown retail vacancies have been on the rise since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The vacancy rate (now) is much higher downtown than throughout the region," Elliott Krivenko, senior director of market analytics at commercial real estate service CoStar, said Wednesday.

CoStar's latest findings show a 22% vacancy rate for downtown retail properties, with the caveat that the percentage doesn't include retail in mixed-use buildings.

Despite the vacancies, downtown Seattle still has some of the highest asking rents in the region, Krivenko said, although they inched down in recent years.

Though Seattle has largely returned to normalcy since the pandemic's height, retailers - small operators in particular - still grapple with a flurry of headwinds.

These pressures ultimately come down to two areas of concern: public safety and affordability, Beto Yarce, acting director of Seattle's office of economic development, said Tuesday.

Since 2021, violent crime has consistently fallen in the downtown commercial neighborhood, per Seattle Police Department data. Last year hit a five-year low of 378 incidents. But the total incidents of property crime in 2025 are quadruple that number. It remains the area's predominant challenge.

On top of public safety, Yarce said the city's business owners are squeezed by macroeconomic issues like tariffs.

Neal James, who runs Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on Pier 54, has shelled out cash to satisfy duties.

"That's still definitely affecting us," he said of the tariffs, which were deemed illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.

But relief is on its way: U.S. Customs and Border Protection went live with its first phase of the tariff refund portal last month to provide rebates to importers.

And it's almost summer in Seattle, which is likely to bring throngs of seasonal tourists, World Cup attendees and cruise ship passengers downtown.

Ye Olde Curiosity Shop is a quirky store started by Joseph Edward Standley in 1899. Ownership has changed hands within the family until Standley's great-great-grandson, James, 35, most recently took over.

The shop was on Second Avenue and Pike Street before eventually moving to the waterfront in 1904.

Today, James estimates that there are probably fewer small businesses downtown than there used to be. However, with the help of his daughter, who also works at the store, "we're definitely going to keep it going," he said.

Some remain hesitant to launch their ventures downtown.

Jonathan Liang, 29, is in the first six months of getting his new business, Yoks Cafe, off the ground. It officially opened in December - almost a decade since Liang moved from Hawaiʻi to Washington for college.

Yoks Cafe doesn't have a storefront yet and is operating as a pop-up coffee shop. Because of that model, Liang has explored various neighborhoods - Fremont, Capitol Hill, Ballard, Georgetown, University District and Belltown - and envisioned which one will be the best fit for his cafe one day.

For him, downtown Seattle isn't a possibility. Instead, he's gravitating toward Capitol Hill as the future home of Yoks.

"I know how expensive downtown is, so, usually, small businesses can't afford that," Liang said. "The chains, they have the funds."

'Can we create enough consistency?'

Several small-business owners see a silver lining in reaching critical mass downtown, supported by an array of local and national retailers.

Mia Weber, senior marketing manager at Eighth Generation, acknowledges that the store's budget and labor force is more constrained than chains like West Elm.

Still, "it's nice to actually have the mix" of businesses, Weber said. "Most consumers appreciate that they can go to Nordstrom but, then, also go to a store like ours."

So far, it's worked out for the brand. Three years ago, it outgrew its original space in Pike Place Market that it had occupied since 2016 and resettled in its current location nearby.

Nguyen, at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, explained that anchor tenants like Barnes & Noble drive traffic to the neighborhood, which uplifts small businesses in turn, Nguyen said.

More large tenants are eyeing downtown locations, he said. The problem is the available physical spaces don't suit their needs.

One example is the space that J.Crew used to occupy in Pacific Place. It's too large for many potential occupants, Nguyen said, so one solution could be working with the property owner to divide it into several smaller spaces.

There's room for improvement - and what small businesses need most is an integrative environment, Nguyen said, that balances out the squeeze of labor costs, insurance, inflation, access to capital and more.

Support could include reliable transit, improved parking, reasonable housing costs and the presence of major employers, because their workforces frequent local businesses, he said.

"Those things are very much in our control," Nguyen said. "The question is: Can we create enough consistency?"

In the meantime, Bellevue-based business adviser Dayo Oyetuga is watching clients who are small-business owners gravitate toward the Eastside.

"A lot of the larger corporations are moving to the Eastside," he said, so restaurants and retailers are interested in following them.

Many small-business owners are competing with each other for resources like grants, and Oyetuga believes there's more support for them on the Eastside.

Meanwhile, in downtown Seattle, "there's a little bit more complexity to it," he said. "I still think there's great opportunity. There just needs to be some restructuring where it's clearer direction and clearer access."

'Such a legacy'

Against all odds, downtown's small businesses are intent on flourishing where they are.

In the Market, Metsker Maps of Seattle is still going strong since its establishment by Charles F. Metsker in 1901.

"We do have such a legacy being Metsker Maps," said manager Emily Allen, 34. "Compared to the rest of downtown, there's certain pockets, right, where the businesses have left or just closed up shop."

While other streets are crowded with national chains, she described the bubble of the Market as insulating from many pressures. The charter of the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority asserts that it exists "to promote the survival and predominance of small shops."

The specialty store has had to adapt with the times, expanding from its original operations in Tacoma to Seattle in the 1930s, then relocating from Pioneer Square to its home in the Sanitary Market building in 2004.

Metsker Maps holds sentimental value for Allen, who was born and raised in Seattle. She remembers exploring the store as a child with her grandfather.

Allen maintains a rosy perspective on its future.

"If we can survive the Great Depression, if we can survive the digital age, if we can survive the recession and COVID," she said, "I'm hopeful.

To learn more about the ʻokina diacritical mark in Hawaiʻi, visit st.news/language

Correction: This story has been updated to remove a reference that Ye Olde Curiosity Shop moved to its current location on Pier 54 in 1904.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 6:39 AM.