(Image: BECU)
Broadway Market Video is moving … to Broadway. And BECU, powered by a burgeoning Capitol Hill membership, is expanding. Details on more changes coming to the Broadway Market shopping center and the new home — nope, Murray the cat didn’t hang around — for a longtime Broadway business, below.
officials tell CHS the credit union will double its size in the Market starting this fall with construction that is expected to last into December. The new space will expand into areas of the market previously carved out for smaller retailers to provide BECU with more room to provide a “better member experience,” a BECU representative said.
The expansion comes as BECU has seen its membership across the region and on Capitol Hill swell in the wake of criticism of big banks and their part in the recent economic meltdown. We reported this spring that the BECU Broadway membership leapt by 46% to more than 2,400 members in 2011 and a BECU representative said that number has grown by around 20% so far in 2012.
The doubled in size BECU is slated to open in December after a short stay in a temporary location during construction. At 2,000 square feet, it will be dwarfed by the 6,000 square-foot Bank of America planned to be part of the 230 Broadway project when it opens later this year.
Meanwhile, after a 26-year run at its Republican and Broadway location, the independent video rental shop Broadway Market Video is moving across the street to the former AAA Locksmith & Security location at 512 Broadway E (right next to that Wells Fargo ATM).
The old location (Image: Broadway Market Video)
Owner Paul Dwoskin, who bought the shop in 1994, said the impending changes at the Broadway Market building, plus the opportunity for more foot traffic, were behind the move.
“We heard about the building redevelopment, I didn’t want to be a part of that,” he told CHS.
Madison Marquette announced its nearly $15 million investment in the Broadway Market in 2011. Dwoskin expanded the video store space way back in 2000, adding the TVs and growing his video collection. Dwoskin said he had been on a month-to-month lease and left Madison Marquette on amicable terms. The Market’s retail mix has slowly shifted since the 2011 investment as Hot Topic moved out and QFC continues to dominate the bulk of the space. In April, CHS reported that Gyro World was closing but the beloved Broadway Shoe Repair would remain with its “very long lease” as the QFC has undergone upgrades and overhauls including a new space for spirits retailing, a new cheese section and a shifted Starbucks counter.
Dwoskin said he had been eyeing the location since AAA (and Murray the window cat) moved downtown in search of a bigger space and better parking last October following 40 years in the Broadway store. Rent at the new space will be cheaper, Dwoskin said, and is nearly the same square footage, but longer and narrower. The video collection will remain the same and the gift and card offerings will expand. For now, it seems, the Broadway Market part of the Broadway Market Video name is also staying the same.
Dwoskin said he plans to close on Wednesday for a moving day, and be open at the new location on Thursday. If you’re free, Dwoskin is looking for volunteers to help with the move, specifically carting DVDs across the street.
The store’s pedestrian pleasing window TVs were up for grabs (they’re tube, but they work) and there are a few hundred $1 DVDs for sale. Books are also 40% off and many adult titles are on sale for $4.99. Of course, if you’re in the market for liquidated video store offerings, you can also try E Pine’s Third Man Video. CHS reported earlier this week that the store is going out of business by the end of the summer.
You can learn more about Broadway Market Video at broadwaymarketvideo.com.
Broadway Market Video should get a cat.
BECU provides the best products and customer service of any financial institution I’ve ever dealt with. Given the typical behavior of such organizations in the 21st century, it’s hard to know what to make of them.
So… are they doubling in size sideways, or are they moving to the big space along the sidewalk?
They’re doing construction in the current spot, so I assume they’re staying there.
More window space from which they can watch me happily trot into BECU.
I keep wishing I had more reasons to go by the new AAA location– sometimes in the Broadway location Murray would stand up from where he was lounging and make a fuss until I came in and petted him. Best way to lure me into a store.
BECU: this is great, but can we please get a full service branch, with tellers, somewhere in Seattle? If you guys are one of the top 5 credit unions in the entire country, you can afford to have tellers somewhere besides Tukwila and Everett. And add at least one more ATM to the 2nd and Pine location, for God’s sake, the lines are 10 deep at each of the existing two.
I second everything you just said! There needs to be more ATMs downtown somewhere and I would love a full-service branch in Seattle. I am happy I made the switch from Chase last year but I might have considered other options if I had realized what the teller situation was (or was NOT) at the “neighborhood centers.”
The only thing I’ve *ever* needed a teller for at a bank was getting quarters for laundry, and the QFC will gladly do that if ever you ask. Otherwise, their reps have been able to do anything and everything I’ve ever asked of them.
And, if you really need a teller so bad– remember membership at BECU means you can use a teller at ANY credit union in the city– I’ve only done it once or twice, but its definitely an option, and they won’t bat an eyelash.
I ask this really sincerely: what sorts of things do people use tellers for other than wanting to deposit or withdraw coin that the ATM’s can’t do? Like I said, I’ve never missed having a teller… is there something I’m missing?
Agreed. Shared branching means any credit union can help you with that stuff. And almost everything else can be done over the phone.
being a loyal customer of bdwy video, it makes me happy that they will still be around so that i can rent dvds. they have the best customer service & a gr8 selection of dvds. i will continue 2support local businesses because without them our neighborhoods would be nothing.