posted 09/14/10 03:51 PM | updated 09/14/10 03:51 PM
Views: 2253 | Comments : 16 | News, etc.

Whimsy the latest indie retailer to close shop on the Hill

By jseattle
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Inside Whimsy's real-world shop

Here is a quick economic lesson. This is a better time to be a bar or restaurant owner on Capitol Hill than it is to be an owner of an independent retail shop. The evidence? Yet another brick and mortar storefront (literally!) is biting the dust. 14th and Pine's Whimsy Home Decor sent out the following message to subscribers of its e-mail newsletter today:

Thank you for over 3 'seriously fun' years at Whimsy on Capitol Hill. Sadly, we are closing our storefront in late October.

 

As a member of our Rewards Program we'd like to invite you to shop the closing sale early! The sale will be announced publicly on September 22nd, but you can shop starting this Friday, September 17th! We will be open until 8pm on Friday so you have extra time to shop.

The store will host a 'progressive' sale with larger and larger discounts through its October close.

Whimsy's Teri Burnett goes on to say her shop will continue to live on as an online store at http://www.whimsyhomedecor.com. The shop opened at 1535 14th Ave in 2007. It's a similar move to the one made by 15th Ave East gift shop Tilden when it went online only in January after 37 years of business on the Hill. Tilden's 15th Ave location is slated to become a new Caffe Vita coffee shop and pizza joint.

As for the trend, here is a list of independent retailers who have closed this summer on the Hill:

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... too bad
This is a fun and interesting place, never made a major purchase, great for gifts.

Too bad, and in better times they would have been doing well .... nice people too.
Comment by Mike with curls
September 14, 2010
Maybe a salon?
Maybe a salon place would do well in that spot? Or like a little dessert place, you know, ice cream or baked yummies; like a pie shop or cupcakes.
Comment by Residual
September 14, 2010
RE: Maybe a salon?
Like Aria? Or Salon Dewi? Swoon? Moxie? Or Cupcake Royale?...
Comment by frankie
September 16, 2010
whimsy closing
No loss...I never understood how a home decor store could look so awful.
Comment by barry smith
September 14, 2010
RE: whimsy closing
Agreed. When this shop opened, it looked like a Retrofit knockoff for people with too much money and no taste whatsoever. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Any chance we could get a convenience store back in that space? We could use one.
Comment by genevieve
September 15, 2010
Someone please
...open a noodle, wonton, and congee house there? And I don't mean something like Boom Noodle. Real Chinese home cooking - jook, duck noodle soup, wonton soup.

We've got enough pho, Thai, ice cream, coffee, cupcakes etc in the area already. We need something different like non-white washed Asian food.

my 2 cents.
www.vanessaau.com
Comment by vanessaau
September 14, 2010
RE: Someone please
Or decent Indian food. There are OK, but not great places in other Seattle neighborhoods. Why can't there be any as good as the strip mall spots on the Eastside. (15th has some open spots for a non-coffee shop).
Comment by anne
September 15, 2010
too bad
Sorry to see this type of store go. Cheap food and sweets won't cut it on the high rents though. Maybe if more people shopped in the neighborhood rather than buying on amazon.com and netflix?
Comment by morty
September 14, 2010
.
This was kind of a cool place in spirit, but realistically, the things it sold were for a pretty niche market who frankly can't afford it.
Comment by .
September 14, 2010
RE: .
Dot on.
Comment by Mike with curls
September 14, 2010
Inevitable
Sorry to see a business fail, but this was not making good use of a great location.

Taste is subjective, but the wares of Whinsy always looked like overpriced gaudy tat. Given it never changed, one could only conclude noone was buying anything; noone ever being inside seemed to reinforce that.

The Salon/cupcake/ice cream suggestion is a huge LOL.
Comment by Unsurprised
September 14, 2010
RE: Inevitable
Maybe if they had a vegetarian option.
Comment by ProstSeattle
September 15, 2010
EXpensive
I just went into Whimsy for the first time a few weeks ago; I was looking for a small table lamp. The only table lamp they had was around $250. I went into Retrofit and bought exactly what I was looking for, for $30. Whimsy looked like they had some fun home stuff, but at these prices and considering that there IS some competition in the neighborhood, I'm not terribly surprised to hear that they are closing. I am sorry to see yet another small store leave the Hill, I guess I should have bought the expensive lamp. ;)
Comment by SS
September 15, 2010
small business is personal...
While I understand many have negative feelings about Whimsy, here's something to think about: it's closing. People are losing jobs, a person is losing their business. Whimsy may not be your taste. Luckily we have so many options in Seattle to find the housewares that reflect our individual personalities.
Comment by sarahmarie
September 16, 2010
RE: small business is personal...
technically, a person is not "losing their business", just the real world incarnation of it. "Whimsy's Teri Burnett goes on to say her shop will continue to live on as an online store at http://www.whimsyhomedecor.com. The shop opened at 1535 14th Ave in 2007". as for losing jobs, the owner isn't, not with the store online.
Comment by selena
September 16, 2010
We're OPEN
We will REMAIN OPEN thru the end of the year to accommodate multiple requests from those who look forward to doing their Holiday Gift and Decoration Shopping.
Comment by Teri Burnett MD
November 04, 2010