Retail Notebook: Downtown Seattle area is a home-design delight

But to Karen Cho, the owner of Urchin, the latest addition to First Avenue's collection of home design, furniture and accessory shops, that's precisely what the spiny sea creature represents.

Urchin is her mother's favorite sushi dish -- a costly luxury that she denies herself by habit.

Her mother's refusal to order the delicacy has always left an opening for Cho's father to swoop in, ever the gentleman, and get the dish for her. Pleasure, but no guilt on the side, please.

Urchin debuted on First Avenue less than a month ago to be "a place to find little indulgences" -- wooden trays, scented oils, quilted silks and anything to round out the home -- with some major pieces as well, such as the weirdly comfy minimalist chairs.

Walking to work from her Belltown condo has given Cho, 31, who drove to work at Amazon.com every weekday for six years, a sense of connection. Cho said she was part "of the old guard at Amazon," where after a half-dozen years she almost counted as "a fossil," but despite her tech experience, she doesn't intend to take her wares to the Web for at least six months.

Her 1,700-square-foot shop joins an already established, if petite, community of design-oriented home shops strung along First and Second avenues. Urchin is part of a rising tide of stores aimed at capturing one of the fastest growing segments of Washington's retail economy -- furniture and home accessories.

Although Washington's taxable retail trade -- excluding services, contracting and manufacturing -- grew by 6.1 percent to reach $49.3 billion in 2004, sales of furniture and home accessories swelled by 10.4 percent to hit $1.7 billion.

The home retail sector's slice of the pie is small, but it is expanding more rapidly than many other categories, including electronics, clothes, food, drink and cars.

That momentum has helped reshape this stretch of First Avenue, whose steady development has primed it for Urchin's arrival next to longtime favorite bookstore Peter Miller, named after its owner, and his newer home accessories shop Details.

One block east on Second Avenue are Velocity Art and Design, a modernist take on the classics, and Great Jones Home, whose high glam look is a departure from the aesthetic of the other stores.

At Great Jones Home, the spare elegance of modernity is nixed in favor of a riotous mixture of vintage, imported, and custom-designed furniture and goodies, reminiscent of a Vogue tea party thrown by the Mad Hatter.

Owner Carrie Hayden, 33, who bought the 3,000-square-foot shop in 2001 -- then a shabby chic space painted mint green -- credits her background in fashion (she used to work for Richard Tyler in New York) for the mix of hot-air balloons, old Hollywood set pieces and rich fabrics that fills her store.

"If you are a modernist, you can go down to First Avenue and be happy as a clam," said Hayden, who called her store an eclectic design emporium. "My store is more about color and risk taking."

Hayden said that more than half her sales of home goods were derived from the custom consultations that she does, making house calls and revamping furniture to a customer's preference.

It's a different customer from Urchin -- where every piece, from the ottoman to the enormously oversized mirror, had to pass Cho's personal test: "If I saw this in a store, would I buy it? Is it reasonable? Is it outrageous?" If it meets her standards, Cho figures it will work for her neighbors and other downtown residents.

But not everything is working in Cho's favor. The parking situation after 3 p.m. is dire. Miller, the owner of the two shops next to Cho, begged a reporter to stay until 3 p.m., when the parking regulations from Virginia to Yesler decree that cars on this stretch of First Avenue need to be towed to make room for the commuter traffic and bus lines.

"You have to look at it," said Miller, describing the row of tow trucks that descends upon the street at 3 p.m. "It is such a sad spectacle."

The upside is that many buses go there. And it is a great walk, peppered as well with clothing stores such as Ian, Baby & Co, and Heather Joy Designer Outlet. If you visit by car, park north of Virginia Street to avoid the problem and take the accompanying map along to guide your walk.

Each of the stores you will find reflects much of its owner's personality. Miller's humor and sleek aesthetic permeate his housewares and book collections. Hayden's explosion of fabrics and textures speaks to her character, often going in all directions at once. Cho's refined and sleek shelves recollect her attention to detail.

Cho may have First Avenue at the right time in its development, her neighbor Miller noted, when these shops, near enough to Pike Place Market to walk but not close enough to be inundated with tourists, have come together enough to beat back the travails that torment urban retailers.

She is optimistic, having left Ohio for Seattle in 1997, with a car full of stuff and no real idea of what lay in store.

"You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be open," she said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Victory comes one sale at a time."

Retail Notebook is a Saturday feature by P-I retail reporter Kristen Millares Bolt. She can be reached at 206-448-8142 or kristenbolt@seattlepi.com

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