Izilla Toys is moving up in the world. The toy and fun stuff retailer, which moved into the lower level of Liz Dunn’s Piston and Ring building in 2007 and created a kind of kid-friendly, subterranean cavern in the space, is coming to the surface on 12th ave and moving into the building recently left empty by Retrofit Home’s move around the corner to E. Pike. Jude Larene, part of the husband and wife duo behind Izilla, confirmed the move to CHS.
“We would have never moved if Retrofit hadn’t decided to move,” Larene said. “Liz came to us and we said sure.”
Developer Liz Dunn owns both the building where Izilla is headed and the property it currently calls home.
Larene said the arrival of Elliot Bay Book Co. was a factor in the decision to come upstairs.
“If they had come to me a year ago, I don’t know,” Larene said. “But with more people up there and Elliott Bay open, I’m sure we’ll get more walk-by business.”
By “up there,” Larene means above ground, of course. The Retrofit location is larger and above ground at sidewalk level. Larene said that sales jumped around 40% with Izilla’s first move up from Madison Valley. He has more modest — but still positive — expectations for this move.
Izilla’s shuffle means one of the empty storefronts on Capitol Hill we tallied here is about to be filled. But it also means a new one is opening up. But it sounds like it won’t be empty long. We’ve been told that the space Izilla is leaving is actually split across two buildings, both owned by Dunn. The part in the first building is likely to end up as office workspace, we’ve heard. It’s the second part of the building beneath Boom Noodle where the intrigue lies. No specific word yet on what’s being planned for that space — but we’re told there is a plan. We just can’t know about it yet.
In the meantime, Izilla’s move is also a big weight off the shoulders for retrofit co-owner Jön Milazzo. Milazzo told CHS her store still had three years on its lease when the decision was made to move Retrofit around the corner to take over the old Aria space on E. Pike. Work continues on that 1103 E. Pike location. Retrofit has said they are targeting a late May/early June re-opening.
The move will, however, be a big of a drag for Larene and his wife and co-owner Jen Schneeweis. They just went through the process of opening a new store in Wallingford this fall. Now they’re facing the prospect of re-opening another.
“It’s going to be a nightmare,” Larene said. “But yeah, why not? We’re good at this stuff now.”
Larene said Izilla should be open at 1419 12th Ave sometime in June.
