End of an urban collective: City People's Mercantile on Capitol Hill closing next month

At times, Judith Gille finds herself fighting back tears as she explains the decision to sell City People's Mercantile, the longtime Capitol Hill hardware store.

"It's hard — it's been my baby," she said. "I feel like I'm giving up one of my children."

But Gille said she and the other owners need time to spend with their families, so after 22 years, the store on 15th Avenue East that started as a "workers collective" is being sold to a California developer and will close by the end of December. The store on Sand Point Way Northeast and garden shop on East Madison Street will remain open.

When City People's opened in 1979, its founders leaned more toward socialism than capitalism. It has long supported environmental, peace and AIDS-support causes while selling an array of environmentally friendly and natural products. City People's became a Capitol Hill fixture even as the market for hardware and home products shifted to large retailers, such as Home Depot and Lowe's.

But five years ago, Gille and the other owners — Harley Broe and Dianne Casper — started talking about selling the business. They were looking for a buyer to take over all the stores, and the business went on the market in 1999.

Meanwhile, business at their Fremont store began suffering from the opening of Fred Meyer and the dearth of street parking. A business consultant suggested two options: transform City People's into a corporation or close the Fremont store and focus on the two remaining stores. They decided against the corporate model.

"We felt if we did that, City People's wouldn't be what City People's was," Gille said. "It didn't seem quite the right thing to do."

The business remained on the market, but no buyers emerged. Puget Consumers Coop and Chubby & Tubby expressed interest but never made offers, Gille said.

The decision to sell was personal, not financial, she said, and if profit were the motive, she and the other owners could easily have sold years ago when the real-estate market was high and property was more in demand.

Over the years, developers have made offers, but the owners held out hope that someone might buy and continue the business. In February, the only offer was from a broker representing a California developer, who bought the property last month for $2.6 million. The land and building were assessed at $900,000.

Gille does not know what will become of the property.

The sale has upset some community members. Some have told Gille they understand her reasons, but others said she and her co-owners have "sold out." One resident left the owners a sharply written note on the door. Gille has since placed a comment box at the register.

After Thanksgiving, City People's will start a liquidation sale. The roughly 30 workers at the store have severance packages and some may have the opportunity to work at the other locations. Gille said she has mixed feelings about selling but feels she and the other owners made the right personal decision.

"I live a block away," Gille said. "It's my community store, too. But we just ran out of options."

Frank Vinluan can be reached at 206-464-2291 or fvinluan@seattletimes.com.