University Book Store, Inc.--the for-profit corporate trust that benefits University of Washington students, faculty and staff and has seven stores in the Seattle, Wash., area--is closing its 30-year-old store in downtown Bellevue on February 15.
University Book Store CEO Louise Little said that "while we have enjoyed success over those 30 years, the retail environment has changed significantly. We believe our business, and the Trust which governs our operations, will be better served by leasing the space that our store currently occupies to another retail tenant."
The University Book Store owns the building its Bellevue store is located in; tenants include Y'ves Delorme, Zeeks Pizza, Nancy Wallace Pilates and Salon 990.
Little noted that Bellevue, an upscale city across Lake Washington from Seattle, is going through "a huge growth spurt," with lots of development, making commercial properties more valuable. University Book Store looked at the economics of operating its own business in its 19,000-square-foot space, 1,000 of which is leased to a cafe, compared to leasing that space to another business, and found, Little said, that "it was far and away much more profitable to lease that space rather than operate our own store."
She stressed that University Book Store aims to continue to be a part of the Eastside community "at a new location yet to be confirmed. We will continue to serve Bellevue customers through our University District, Mill Creek and Tacoma stores, and at ubookstore.com."
University Book Store is "keeping our eyes and ears open for locations that will serve our needs," Little continued; a new location could be in Bellevue or another Eastside community such as Redmond or Kirkland. She emphasized that many University of Washington alumni live in Bellevue and nearby and are an important market for two of University Book Store's main categories: books and Husky insignia, including clothing and non-clothing items.
A new store would likely be smaller than the Bellevue store, in part because of the general trend in retail away from big box stores and because customers have come to expect "an omnichannel presence," including online, and don't gravitate to big stores as they used to. Little noted that University Book Store is investing heavily in IT, adding, "We're closing a store, but we're looking for new and better ways to serve our customers."