(Image: Uncle Ike’s Bottle Shop)
One of the captains of Seattle’s legal pot industry is turning his attention to a more traditional intoxicant at 23rd and Union.
Uncle Ike’s Bottle Shop is now open at the corner in front of the chain’s Central District cannabis store. Owner Ian Eisenberg said the decision was about simple economics.
“Glass and Goods never really performed,” Eisenberg said about the space’s previous life as an Uncle Ike’s store for pipes and pot paraphernalia. The higher margin, high end electronic smoking gear, Eisenberg said, is something most people were shopping for online.
(Image: Uncle Ike’s Bottle Shop)
As for the rest of the Ike’s campus at 23rd and Union, we still don’t know what new bar or restaurant is lined up to take the space left open by the acrimonious removal of the Neighbor Lady from the space next to the bottle shop and the cannabis store. That popular watering hole will settle in across the street at the Midtown Square development when construction wraps up in coming months and tenants can move in. UPDATE: Eisenberg said that permitting around the address for the Ike’s campus was related to the bottle shop and there are no plans to reopen a new business in the former Neighbor Lady bar.
The opening of the Ike’s Bottle Shop returns booze to the intersection after Noble Spirits was forced to shut down by the demolition of its longtime home in the Midtown shopping center cleared away for the Midtown Square project. Part of a small chain of Noble liquor shops, the store’s license holder had hopes of reopening at Midtown but the inclusion of a chain drugstore with liquor retailing plans in the development project reportedly scuttled the effort.
The post office formerly resident at Midtown, meanwhile, reopened nearby in a former electric bike shop last September.
The new bottle shop is bound to gain customers — Midtown Square is hoped to open for new residents for its more than 400 apartment units beginning this summer. And Black-owned Gardner Global is preparing an ambition redevelopment plan for both sides of 23rd Ave north of Union including the property next to Ike’s currently home to the Mount Calvary church.
The newly opened bottle shop is “just like every other liquor store in Seattle,” Eisenberg said, downplaying anything novel about the concept beyond its association with the Uncle Ike’s brand which includes the company’s CD pot shop location and the car wash just up the block. Inside the store, you’ll notice a few more Ike’s touches including well lit product displays and a relatively open space to wander the aisles. There is also, of course, Ike’s 23rd and Union parking lot.
Like cannabis, liquor choices in Washington are more a function of distribution than consumer demand, Eisenberg said. “When the state opened up liquor, everybody thought the little guy would have a shot. But it just consolidated on the two biggest distributors.”
Still, Eisenberg said he’s open to try to find a bottle you’ve been searching for.
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I’ll continue to go the extra mile in avoiding any Eisenberg owned business
Safeway or QFC for booze
Ponder, Ruckus, or any other location for buds
The street with a bucket, sponge, and a hose for car washing
And just as I’m spouting off here, the reader should be assured I will educate everyone I see in the area about their available alternatives
+1 💜
Chuck’s hop shop is right nearby and is a great bottle shop option!
He won’t miss you I imagine. His crime was success, helping to activate a site of multiple murders, not capitulating to the extortion efforts of the mob, and just perhaps his heritage. For every person who boycotts him, some of us preferentially patronize his stores in response.
+1 💜
Yeah, I used to think that too. Then I learned some things. Like, remember how there used to be a “Free Children’s Arcade” in the building where Ike’s on 15th is now, right across from Ruckus?
…you know what, I wouldn’t want to pressure you. If you actually care, you’ve got Google.
I exclusively shop for weed at Ike’s. Not because I have any particular opinion on Eisenberg (I’m bemused by the amount of hatred is directed at him). But because Ike’s has been a good shopping experience every time I’ve been in, offers a wide selection, and has reasonable prices. Why would I shop elsewhere?
I hear ya. But I’m the exact opposite. I go out of my way to patronize his businesses given the good he’s done for the neighborhood and his willingness to stand up to the haters.
Agree wholeheartedly. I’ve tried Ruckus and a few others and they all have a more “pothead” feel to shopping there, where Ike’s seems a little more professional. Maybe the college pothead vibe appeals to some, but I’m old and appreciate a nicer experience.
I used to shop at Ike’s exclusively until I learned more about his past and present business practices. I used to think the guy was pretty cool. Phone sex 900 numbers, internet service provider scams, faux children’s arcade, and his leaning towards being super litigation happy. …not to mention every time he tries to play the anti-Semite card.
Sure, I doubt he misses the couple of hundred a month I used to spend there before or after patronizing the Neighbor Lady. He probably doesn’t miss the friends and acquaintances I used to steer to his front door. And certainly he doesn’t miss the branding stickers I had all over various things that are now conspicuously partially covered in case someone wants to know why.
It’s a free market. Shop where you want. It’s a nation with freedom of speech and I’ll continue to educate those around me of their readily available alternatives.
The only real inconvenience my boycott effort causes me is washing my vehicles.
c’est la vie
Same. I will never shop at Ike’s for anything ever
Ikes does a nice job with branding. His shop is by far the coolest brand of pot shops in the City. His haters make me laugh. Safeway seems like a great place for @Alan. Haha.
I love Uncle Ikes. They don’t scan your drivers license then spam your digital devices like Ponder does. Just ask the doorman at Ponder not to scan your license, you’ll get a sparky “no” at best.
Does Ponder really send spam? I haven’t shopped there but that would be a hard no.
No, Ponder has never sent me spam or anyone else I know that frequents them, unless of course you sign up for their email list. Ponder is a great shop and I’ve only had good experiences there.
By “spam” I meant Ponder ads that appear on web pages on my devices. If not for such marketing purposes, why would Ponder scan Licenses? There is no legal requirement that they scan. I value my privacy and so avoid shopping there.
Ike and his dad made their money exploiting sex workers and not paying them via their phone sex business. This man is a pig and everything he touches is cancerous.
Of all the articles I read that mentioned Ike having operated phone sex lines years ago, never did I read anywhere that he ripped off and didn’t pay his employees. Where did you read that?
I avoid Ike’s businesses but this sounds disingenuous at best. Where did you get this information?