Broadway Market QFC

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marshd1000
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Broadway Market QFC

Post by marshd1000 »

The Broadway Market QFC is one of the more unusual QFC stores in the chain. I could be wrong on the very early history. If I am, please correct me. But I believe that in the very early days, it may have housed a Safeway and possibly some other businesses.

I do know for certain that in the early 1970's, before the building got turned into a mini mall, that there was a Marketime Drug Store. Possibly the grocery next door was Safeway. I am not certain about that. But at some point, this store was the first to bear the Fred Meyer name inside the city of Seattle. That occurred when the owners of Marketime Drug, Fred Meyer from Portland put in a grocery in the same building next to Marketime Drug. This only lasted for a few years and eventually the building became a drug, variety and apparel store. At this time Fred Meyer began to transition the Marketime Drug chain to the Fred Meyer banner. So for a few years it was Fred Meyer-Marketime.

Eventually the owners of the building decided to turn the Fred Meyer-Marketime building into a mini enclosed mall. The building was added onto with the original building being vacated for smaller shops and a mall walkway. Fred Meyer was relocated into that addition. The backside of the original store was opened up and people were then treated to a small version of Fred Meyer that was split between two levels. Also in the new addition, apartments were built. On the very top level of the mall, the old roof was removed and the third level was constructed. This third level was never part of the old or new Fred Meyer. It originally had some shops and a theater. Now the theater is a Gold's Gym.

For quite a few years, this was the arrangement for the Broadway Market. The bottom half floor was Fred Meyer and the the top half floor was also Fred Meyer. To get to it from the mall, you either had to go up or down. There was no level entry from the interior mall.

There was a QFC across the street from the Broadway Market and it was going to be demolished for a new residential project. By this time, there was quite a few vacancies inside the Broadway Market. So it was arranged that QFC would take over the old Fred Meyer space and the empty store spaces. Initial news reports had the space becoming a Fred Meyer. But it became a QFC Marketplace, although not officially labeled as such.

So to go back to the post on Retail Watchers about Kroger adding clothes, I should say to Brian Lutz, go back to the Broadway Market QFC and take a look. While there may be some some QFC stores that have a larger space, the product mix is unusual at this store. While Kroger got rid of the home electronics section, they did add a ton of housewares. There is also a small hardware section with paint. Even a section with board games. I believe I even saw limited section of sporting goods. So while I am sure that the U-Village and Bellevue and Holman Road store may be larger, this store is pretty different!
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Brian Lutz
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Re: Broadway Market QFC

Post by Brian Lutz »

I finally managed to get back over to this store today to take a look, and I do have to say that is a very unusual layout for a store. The hardlines section of the store (which is somewhat hidden in the back and easy to miss if you're not familiar with the place) is hidden in the back, and the appearance of that part of the store is basically Fred Meyer in all but name (although in the Fresh Fare design package there's a lot of similarily between the two, so that's not too unusual. A portion of the foods section of the store also seems to be practically hidden in a corner that I'm guessing used to be a separate store space which got taken over by the QFC. Perhaps the most unusual feature is the fact that the checkstands are located in an island in the center of the store (including self checkouts.) I've noted in the past that unfamiliar stores, even in a chain which you patronize regularly, can be difficult to navigate, but this may be one of the most confusing stores I've visited in a long time.
The Sledgehammer - Version 2.0 - Seattle Area Malls, Retail History, and other random things.
Bubbabear

Re: Broadway Market QFC

Post by Bubbabear »

marshd1000 was right. This was a Marketime/Fred Meyer and became a mall in the 1980s. The Fred Meyer was a mess in the mall. It was two different areas that weren't connected. It was two tiny stores and didn't have everything as the bigger stores carried. If you wanted prescriptions and a few variety goods, that was about it. The QFC across the street was an original store from the A & P acquisition in 1975 and had a few extensive remodeling jobs as well. Since relocating to the Broadway Market, it has a very different design the the Harvard Market location about a mile and half south of the location. The Safeway across the street was very unique as well. Once it shut down, the neighborhood began to take a change.
roket
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Re: Broadway Market QFC

Post by roket »

Hi I replied to another instance of this question/post, so leaving it here as well:

It looks (per the Seattle Times archive) that Broadway Market was initially a public market. There were dozens of these around the city, something like the Pike Place Market today with subdivided spaces for individual vendors. Broadway Market opened in about 1929 and had space for 20 vendors. In 1935 a sign with analog clock and thermometer was added - the clock was supposed to be the biggest in the city, including Pike Place Market.

In 1958 Safeway leased most of the building. There were still other vendors, however. I believe the clock was modified to read "Safeway" instead of "Broadway Market".

Many modifications have been made to the building. When Safeway moved in a 20' store front was added that had "access to the parking area". The building also didn't occupy the entire block at this time. Later in the year all of the block was acquired.
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