Historic Uwajimaya anchors the International District

It's midmorning. Uwajimaya grocery in Seattle's International District is a buzz of activity. A mix of languages -- Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and English -- blend in a mixture as savory as the pancit and chicken teriyaki simmering in the market's food court.


	A view of Uwajimaya Village Apartments' courtyard. Uwajimaya is as much a tourist destination as an everyday grocery and sundries store for Seattle's Asian community. Phil H. Webber / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo

Tantalizing aromas fill the air; vibrantly colored vegetables, bright packages, gifts and magical, mystical ingredients transfix the eye. There are piles of purple Chinese eggplant, crisp baby bok choy, golden roasted ducks and aquariums filled with live oysters, crabs and monstrous clams called geoducks.

Uwajimaya is as much a tourist destination as it is an everyday grocery and sundries store for the city's Asian community.

"There is a kind of mystique here," said Ali Kulmer, visiting Seattle from Salt Lake City. "This is unbelievable."

Kulmer's sister-in-law, Rachel Kulmer of Kirkland, brought her brother and his new bride to see the store.

"There is great food here, and a culture to go with it," she said.

Uwajimaya has been at the heart of the International District for nearly five decades. Fujimatsu Moriguchi brought his family to Seattle after they were released from California's Tule Lake interment camp at the end of World War II. Originally a small retail store and fish cake manufacturing company, the store, in the eyes of the senior Moriguchi, was an opportunity to capture some of the growing interest in foreign cultures when Seattle hosted the 1962 World's Fair.


	Tracy and Bill Gaeth of Honolulu shop at Uwajimaya in the International District. Phil H. Webber / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo

In the 1970s, the Asian market became one of the biggest in the Pacific Northwest when the Moriguchi family opened a 20,000-square-foot store at the corner of Sixth Avenue South and South King Street. Even adding 16,000 feet to the store in 1978 wasn't enough to contain the delicatessen, kitchenware and gift shops, books, records and cosmetic departments.

In November, Uwajimaya moved across the street into a new 60,000-square-foot superstore.

Sales are still a little under projections, and overhead a little more than planned. Uwajimaya has almost 600 full-time-equivalent workers. More than two dozen languages are spoken among the employees.

Tomio Moriguchi, son of the founder, is confident that Uwajimaya Village, with parking and 176 units of mainly market-rate housing above the store, will thrive.

"Businesses either grow or they disappear," Moriguchi said. "We are fortunate to be at the right place at the right time."

He's less sure about what lies ahead.

"Most of the property around here is owned by family associations; they are very conservative," Moriguchi said. "I hope the younger generation will take more risks. As long as everybody doesn't get up one day and decide to sell to the highest bidder."


	View of the Uwajimaya Village Apartments' sundeck. PHIL H. WEBBER / P-I

Days seem to start slowly in the International District. Just before 10 a.m., many businesses are still locked. Only the myriad bakeries are busy. Customers chatting over fruit tarts and lemon swirl cakes, cups of coffee and "bubble" tea with gumball-size tapioca pearls.

By noon, the streets are filled with tourists, office workers looking for lunch and shoppers.

Some of them stop by the venerable Higo Variety Store on South Jackson Street, where for 70 years the Murakami family has sold rice cookers, delicate tea sets, chopsticks, hair rollers and fabrics. Masa Murakami has known the store all her life, except for a brief period during World War II when her family, too, was forced to board up their business and report to an interment camp. When the family returned years later, the store and contents were still intact.

Murakami has long been talking about closing the store, but the energetic owner isn't sure what she would do with her days.

"Although business is a bit slower, it is still good," she said.

Uwajimaya is among her favorite places in the neighborhood.

"We go there almost every other day, it is very convenient," she said.

A block from Uwajimaya, Eileen's of China has been selling furniture, art and antiques for 25 years at 624 S. Dearborn St. The store will be closing in a couple of weeks. The owners hope to re-open in August in the building vacated by Uwajimaya grocery last fall.

The store is a decorator's delight, filled with exotic furniture, wall hangings, lucky Buddhas and rare art. But foot traffic is sparse. Eileen's is tired of waiting to be discovered.

"We want to move because we are too tucked away here," manager Evelyn Tse said.


	P-I

Seeing other businesses improve and grow in the International District pleases Moriguchi, who has seen Chinatowns in other cities disappear.

"It is a slow death," he said.

The small, brick buildings of the International District seem overshadowed by its powerful neighbors, Safeco Field, 505 Union Station and high-rise office buildings.

Moriguchi said soaring property taxes in the neighborhood might be the biggest threat to the community.

"It may make it harder for small-volume, family businesses to make it," he said. "The future has some risks, but I think it looks pretty good."

P-I reporter Kathy Mulady can be reached at 206-448-8131 or kathymulady@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Business headlines to