There is a hole in the Pearl building where Envy, “the plant and patio studio for urban terrain,” shut down this week after two years at the location.
“We [are] working on some new ideas for spring but won’t know anything for a while,” owner Jay Longtin told CHS via email about the closure.
We first contacted Longtin two weeks back as Envy was holding a big sale and were told the shop was “just clearing inventory.” As tipster Charles points out — it’s now cleared.
The good old days (Image: CHS)
Envy came to 15th Ave in the summer of 2009 after starting life in the Central District on E Union.
Longtin said the move to Capitol Hill primarily came down to hopes of more foot traffic. “…it’s just not a busy enough location,” Longtin said at the time of the move about his CD location.
“We had hoped when we moved into the space that the other retail spaces would also be filled…. A year later, they are still pretty much empty.”
Now at Envy’s former home the space near Seattle Yoga Arts, Healeo and Anchovies & Olives becomes the second open unit in the Pearl’s ground-floor retail. The other space has never had a tenant in the years since the Pearl was constructed.
Envy marketing (Image: Envy via Facebook)
I tried to buy potting soil there once, and they only had a tiny bag about the size of a sack lunch for $5. That did not work for me.
That was a really cool story about potting soil. Thank you for the wonderful insight.
Do we detect some Envy, “Cool”?
I walked in there once and found a mostly-empty shop with a few plants. I’m not surprised to hear they are closing.
Same here, went into this little garden shop excited, but there was nothing in there for gardeners. If they would have carried more for the urban gardener, maybe it would have survived… potting soil, fertilizers, functional gloves and tools (instead of pretty ones), winter veggie starts, seeds, etc.
I have never been to this store but where is a good plant shop on the hill for us urbanites?
Hoss – check out City People’s if you are near Madison and Lake Washington Blvd. You can also find herb starts, etc. down at Marigold & Mint at the Melrose Market.
And thanks to everyone who stopped in over the years!
It’s always a shame to see a small business close. But this one is really sad, becuase I loved that shop. Their items had great design. I’m going to miss their ads too.
That is too bad, it was a neat little shop. But they needed to have a bigger selection! And maybe some less expensive choices, although I loved the unusual containers they had, and I understand the style.
After them, I found City Peoples Garden Store and it had what I needed. It even has a strange plant section with a better selection.. sorry Envy. But to compete, you need to appeal to more people. I just don’t think the store appealed enough to “plant people”. And being a plant shop, isn’t this important? Isn’t that the customer type you’re going to need to rely on? The plants were exotic, but not uncommon enough to thrill an exotic plant seeker. And the selection was just too sparse. (two types of hoya, maybe three types of cacti, etc..)
Maybe they didn’t want a cluttered look, (the modern style and all..) but to a customer, a well-stocked store is a store full of opportunities that will keep them coming back.