‘Good news on the horizon’: Downtown Seattle Association sees retail turning a corner

Downtown Seattle has been seeing some movement, with the relocation of Nordstrom Rack, the return of Barnes & Noble, and the loss of Ross.

Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio that there are brighter days ahead.

“We’re clearly in a period of transition when it comes to retail and the ground-level experience of restaurants and traditional retailers. But there’s a lot of good news on the horizon, and there’s good news over this last year, as we see more folks opening their doors than closing their doors,” he shared. “But we no doubt are in a rebuilding period after five, six challenging years brought down by the pandemic, and we faced challenges with retailers closing their doors pre-pandemic, and so we’re in a period of transition.”

Jon said, despite mixed headlines on the health of downtown, there’s more to the story.

“The story is complex. It’s a bit nuanced, but there is some good news on the horizon,” he said. “And there’s good news over the last year when we look at the numbers.”

Jon noted the Downtown Seattle Association is thankful Nordstrom Rack is staying in the area.

“We’re grateful to be keeping Nordstrom Rack and obviously grateful for the flagship store downtown,” he said.

He also saw the Barnes & Noble announcement as “really significant.”

“National retailers often follow the lead of other national retailers, and we lost a number of them throughout the pandemic,” Jon said. “And to see one return, I think, is a really positive signal to other national retailers that may be considering expanding to Seattle as well.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.