January 18th 2023: Nike has announced that it will close its downtown Seattle Niketown store. The 25,000 square foot store closing is a blow for downtown Seattle which has seen several other national retailers close stores.
The location at Sixth Avenue and Pike Street was the first full sized Nike store in the Puget Sound area when it opened in 1996. Other national retailers that have closed stores in the area include Starbucks and Amazon.
If you have never been to a Niketown location its a chance for Nike to show all their shoes not just the smaller selection that might be found at a Footlocker for example. Also by having these huge stores Nike was able to show things such as a wide range of Nike t shirts, shorts and clothes. Over the years Nike has been seeming to pull back from these stores of which it has approximately 257 stores although 209 of these are clearance stores or factory outlet stores.
The market for theses huge brand stores has changed with many things working against them such as the move to online sales but also these stores are expensive to operate and also big targets for shoplifters. Hopefully as the larger chains cut back in downtown Seattle spaces can be broken up and rented to smaller businesses especially local businesses.
