Elliott Bay Book Co. Pike/Pine move rumor round-up - UPDATE: Times talks to owner

Benn Originally uploaded by fuzzirella

UPDATE 7:45 PM:
The Seattle Times tracks down Elliott Bay's owner and gets the details.

The owner of Elliott Bay Book Co. said Sunday he's considering moving the landmark Seattle business from its longtime home in Pioneer Square partly because of financial troubles.

Owner Peter Aaron said the store's lease at the Globe Building expires in late January, when a maxed-out line of credit he had been using to run the business also comes due.

The fast-approaching deadlines mean he is facing crucial decisions, said Aaron, who spoke briefly by phone about the store's difficulties in a tough economy.

Sales plummeted after the meltdown on Wall Street last fall, he said, breaking the store's already-tenuous hold on profitability. What's more, sales continued to decline through August, and he began to wonder if the store would go out of business.

Aaron goes on to tell the Times that he is talking with the owner of the Globe Building about a rent reduction and is considering moving to "elsewhere in downtown Seattle, Ballard and Capitol Hill."

Original Post:
A couple more news outlets have jumped on the Elliott Bay Book Company rumor bandwagon this weekend but nobody has put the pieces together yet.

• The Seattle Times weighs in with the closest thing we've seen to a confirmation from Elliott Bay that they're working on a move:
  
  

  [Store manager] Tracy Taylor said a move "is a possibility. We're looking into it." She declined to elaborate and referred other questions to the bookstore owner, Peter Aaron.

• Crosscut's Knute Berger takes the bait and puts the possible EB move into terms of urban development:



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 book lovers.

• The Stranger's original Slog post about Elliott Bay's possible move to Capitol Hill has most of the details being picked through:
  

  There is a rumor buzzing around small business owners on Capitol Hill, and the rumors are remarkably similar: They say that literary institution Elliott Bay Book Company is going to close its Pioneer Square store and move to Capitol Hill, specifically to 10th Ave, between Pike and Pine, right next to Oddfellow's Hall.

• CHS added details from the real estate listing for the rumored Capitol Hill destination on 10th Ave just down the street from the Odd Fellows building:



Built in the 1930's, this building was originally a Ford Truck service center then held various garment manufacturers through the early 1980's. Since that time it has served as the Distribution Center for DMX Music (formerly AEI Music Services, Inc).

Retail and commercial space will be available for tenant improvements December 1, 2009. Located in the heart of the Pine/Pike Triangle on Capitol Hill; 17,000 square feet.

• The Seattle PI's book blog added some insider history and clarified exactly who owns Elliott Bay these days. Bookstore owner Michael Lieberman reports:
  

  Wessel & Lieberman has been located within a block of Elliott Bay since 1993. During the heyday of their reading series in the early 1990's we helped with the overflow, co-sponsoring readings and lending our space when needed so they could keep up with the tremendous demand. When founder Walter Carr was ready to retire we were one signature away from merging our businesses and creating the premier book destination of the Pacific Northwest. I got cold feet at the last minute and it was subsequently sold to Ron Scher, the founder of Third Place Books and Peter Aaron. Aaron is now the sole owner.

The Times also talks with City Councilmember Richard Conlin about the possibility of one of the largest and most notable Pioneer Square businesses leaving the neighborhood.

Like the other news gatherers, CHS has also tried to contact Peter Aaron as well as his former partner in the book biz, Ron Sher. We have also been in touch with Michael Wells, owner of Broadway's Bailey Coy bookstore and the subject of many of the discussions about the pros and cons of Elliott Bay coming to the Hill. Wells has thus far declined to comment but we did note this interesting message in his Twitter stream Saturday night:

On my way to @thirdplacebooks. Lets call it a busman's holiday...

Might as well get to know your possible new neighbors.