Retail Notebook: Soon at U Village: Crate and Barrel

Crate and Barrel, the distinctive Chicago-based furniture and housewares retailer, will open its first Seattle store in University Village in summer 2003. The company has had a store in Bellevue since November 2000.

Along with Crate and Barrel comes the first brick-and-mortar Land of Nod, a children's furniture business that until now has been catalog-only. Land of Nod recently became business partners with Crate and Barrel.

The old northeast section of University Village was demolished this week to make room for the newcomers.


	More changes are in the works at University Village, whose shops and restaurants are connected by winding sidewalks and landscaped promenades. Phil H. Webber / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo

The 32,000-square-foot Crate and Barrel will anchor Village North, the latest redevelopment of the 45-year-old mall, which underwent dramatic renovations in the 1990s from a neighborhood shopping center to a regional draw with some of the premier names in retail.

Recently a Molbak's garden center branch vacated its spot in the mall and three other companies divided the space.

And the changes continue, as plans for an 820-stall parking garage are included in the construction plans. It is expected to be open by early next year.

"We love Seattle. It has been great for us," said Crate and Barrel spokeswoman Bette Kahn. "As soon as we saw the quality of the customer and the strong business in our Bellevue store, we knew we wanted to open a second store."

Kahn said the company, founded by Gordon and Carol Segal in 1962, is renowned for being picky about its locations. Before opening in Bellevue Square, the nearest Crate and Barrel was in San Francisco.

"We knew about University Village, but they didn't have a place for us for a long time. It took them a while to develop plans for the new addition," said Kahn.

"Once we saw it, we knew it was the perfect place. We don't want to be inside a mall, but want to be connected with a successful shopping center."

Each Crate and Barrel store is custom designed to blend in with the new location.


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The two-story University Village store design will feature a cedar front, plenty of glass and a profile that is far longer than tall. By comparison, the Bellevue store features white stucco and is a more vertical design.

Crate and Barrel opened six stores throughout the country in 2001 and plans to open six more this year. The company has about 100 stores. Despite the economic downturn, business for the privately owned retailer has been good.

"People are spending more money on their homes rather than on travel or clothing," Kahn said.

Crate and Barrel is bringing its newest business partner, Land of Nod, to University Village as well. Kahn said Crate and Barrel had often considered adding children's furniture to its collection, but "that is a whole business we don't know anything about." Then they found Land of Nod.

"It is very upscale, it is very clever, so we bought into the company and will locate their stores with ours. We think the synergy will work," she said.

University Village, which covers 24 acres, is owned by Stuart Sloan, former chairman of Quality Food Centers, and Matt Griffin, former president of Egghead Software.

Shops and restaurants in the open-air center are connected by winding sidewalks and landscaped promenades featuring cafe tables and sculptures.

Tenants in the section that was demolished this week, Mailboxes Etc., Storables and Mud Bay Granary, were relocated to the space left vacant by the departure of Molbak's in December.

University Village anchor tenants include Barnes and Noble, Bartell Drugs, Eddie Bauer, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.

Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, like Crate and Barrel, sell furniture and houseware, but the relationship between the three stores will likely lure customers more than create competition.

"Crate and Barrel might be slightly different than the others, since they focus a little more on the kitchen, cooking and eating," said retail analyst Dan Geiman at McAdams, Wright Ragen in Seattle. "It is different enough that it can co-exist with the other two."

Reopening day

The Seattle Mariners team store in downtown Seattle is reopening Monday after being closed six weeks for remodeling.

The store is in the Times Square Building at Fourth Avenue and Stewart Street.

"The remodel opens up and brightens the store and gives us more usable space for merchandise," said Jim LaShell, Mariners director of retail operations.

There are four other Mariners retail outlets in the Puget Sound area, in Bellevue Square, Southcenter Mall, Alderwood Mall and the flagship store at Safeco Field.

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

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