Having already decided to shutter its Westlake location, chain rock-n-roll t-shirt and fashion provider Hot Topic is reportedly shutting down its Broadway Market store. Fittingly for the best and only place to pick up a Justin Bieber t-shirt on Broadway, Seattle Reddit is a-twitter about the shut-down:
Hot Topic on Broadway is closing down, 50% off or more on everything
I got a bitchin’ pikachu shirt, ya’ll. It’s not all crap (lots of Nintendo shirts, some nice warm plaid shirts), and it’s surprisingly unpicked through. I think it just started a couple of days ago.
We’ve seen the notices of a big clearance sale and have been pinged with notes like this one telling us the store is to be shut down. A call to the company over the Presidents holiday yielded only that the store is still listed as “active” in the customer service database. We’re working to get through to somebody in the management ranks who can clarify the situation. Maybe Trendy Wendy was right.
We’re also looking into what, if anything, will be replacing Hot Topic. Broadway Market already lost the Gap chain from its space and an empty storefront would make for another inactive location along Broadway following the closure of the florist and the coffee stand along the north front of the mall.
Meanwhile, another recent retail closure on Broadway also has people talking as people with consignments at Edgar the Store are trying to track down owner Edgar Lee to find out the fate of their goods now that the shop has been shuttered for weeks. Shutting down a business can be as complicated as opening a new one so we’re hoping for the best in the situation. In the meantime, we’re trying to contact Lee, also.
Many of the landlords(and merchants) on Broadway seem to have no conception of what kind of neighborhood it’s located on. Trashy, cheaply made(not priced) clothes for teens? (Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel). It’s not Northgate or South Center. Finally a few restaurateurs are trying for an adult clientele, but they’ll struggle next to smoke shops and third tier tattoo parlors. The problem isn’t street parking prices, it’s the general trashiness or disposability or emptiness of most of the businesses on that strip.
This mini mall needs a major makeover and make its attractive so they can attract tenants. A kitchen shop and few restaurants would be nice additional to that place.
about a hundred million years ago there WAS additional shops in the Market before QFC took over the whole main floor space. 15 or 16 years ago there was a dish and glassware sort of shop whose entrance was about where you walk back into the QFC freezer section, up front where the produce section is had the Gap and on the other side of the front doors was a workout wear store that catered to gay boys.
Sad Hot Topic is going away, but so many other stores in the Market have, I guess I’m not surprised anymore when one does.
Whatever goes in there, please don’t let it be another nail salon or Thai restaurant. Please?
It seems to be an ever common trend that any business that’s in the Broadway Market is doomed to close. It’s probably the only reason the leasing company for the Broadway Market got QFC to move in there.
So…how do you feel about Pho?
I wonder if there is movement to consolidate the spaces of everything that isn’t BECU into one larger retail space? Maybe move Broadway Video out (I am completely speculating here) the Gyro shop, the cobblers, etc. and make one big space for one tenant.