Dori shares fond memory of 3rd Ave Bartell Drugs as location closes

I have a very vivid memory that took place at the Bartell Drugs on 3rd Avenue and Union Street downtown Seattle.

Back in the 1990s, my family and I had a Christmas tradition. We would drive downtown, park near Seattle Center, take the Monorail to Westlake Center, and ride the carousel with our kids. Then we would walk to the teddy bear suite and the Christmas trees at what was then the Four Seasons and is now the Fairmont.

About 24 years ago, while downtown for that Christmas event, we went into that Bartell Drugs on 3rd and Union. My oldest daughter, who was 5 at the time, spotted a bill on the floor — it turned out to be 20 dollars cash. She asked if she could keep it.

My wife and I told her that it did not belong to her. But we came up with a solution — we asked the manager of the store if we could leave the  $20 bill with him in case the owner returned for it. If no one returned to pick up the money in a week, we would come to get it, and my daughter would get to keep the money.

Thief launches 15-minute rampage through downtown Target

The entire next week, my daughter hoped that no one would come into the store. The next Saturday, as soon as she woke up, my daughter was eager to call Bartell Drugs and see if anyone had shown up to get the money.

I called in the afternoon and found that no one had claimed it. So my daughter and I got in the car, went downtown, and walked back into the store. And she got to keep her $20 bill.

That was 24 years ago. Now at 3rd and Union in December, the winter wonderland is gone. We gave up our Christmas tradition years ago when downtown started getting taken over by the heroin addicts and the crime. Instead, we started going to Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square.

In the same vein, Bartell Drugs has just announced that it will close that downtown location because of all the drugs, the shoplifting, and the street crime. According to surveillance video obtained by KIRO 7 TV, a group of people came in off the street to wreak havoc in the store and harass the people working there back in March.

The CEO told KIRO 7 TV that local politicians are not addressing the massive problems in our city, but rather “sweeping them under the rug.”

For decades and decades, Bartell Drugs has been a great local company that has contributed to our local economy and provided many, many jobs. But now because of the horrible political lack of leadership and the rampant crimes downtown, the Seattle staple can take it no more in its 3rd and Union location.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @http://www.twitter.com/dorimonson