Scotch and Soda’s U Village store (Image: University Village)

The corner once home to quintessential Capitol Hill coffee shop Bauhaus is today home to an upscale cycling lifestyle “clubhouse.” The space around the corner on Melrose that used to be an art gallery before being built into the gargantuan, seven-story Excelsior mixed-use building? Amsterdam-based Scotch and Soda is adding the retail berth to its growing roster of U.S. locations.

Company officials haven’t confirmed the new store, the chain’s second in Seattle joining a location in the University Village mall. Permits filed with the city indicate the start of planning is underway for the shop on the eastern side of Melrose adjacent the entrance to the mixed-use building’s 280-vehicle underground parking garage and across the street from Melrose Market.

The opening is part of a larger trend of European brands making headway in physical retail even as United States chains are withering.

The Excelsior as it rises above the gulf between Capitol Hill and downtown, meanwhile, has assembled one of the most “new Seattle” blocks on Capitol Hill with the Rapha Clubhouse — which opened a year ago this month —  and Warby Parker, Marine Layer, Aesop skincare, and a Seattle outlet of California’s The Pressed Juicery rounding out the new mix on E Pine.

Just to torture your soul with the strongest sense of nostalgia and lost Capitol Hill possible, the block was formerly home to Bauhaus, Le Frock, Edie’s, Scout Apparel, Vutique, Wall of Sound and Spine & Crown Books which all eventually made way for the new construction. Next to Bauhaus on the Melrose side, the Warren Knapp Gallery called the adjacent 1917-built “Dirty Jane’s” building home before it shuttered.

After a buildout, the new space will be home to Scotch and Soda’s global fashions inspired by “worldly wanders” and products “rich in detail, high quality and affordable.” For comparison, a cotton cashmere sweater will set you back $98, a “relaxed v-neck top,” $125.

Scotch and Soda will be located at 1535 Melrose. No opening date has been announced. You can learn more at scotch-soda.com.

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