Jewelry store in U District to close; fatal attack cited
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From its perch at the corner of University Way Northeast and Northeast 45th Street, the jewelry store saw its neighborhood transform from a stylish shopping hub with a Nordstrom and J.C. Penney to a gritty, eclectic mix of restaurants, music stores and smoke shops.
But in recent years, the area has also developed a reputation for panhandling and crime — a perception reinforced by last week's fatal attack on a man hit in the head with a skateboard during a late-night argument on the street just in front of the custom jewelry store.
Owner Joe Waldmann said the changing character of "The Ave" has made the neighborhood less appealing to jewelry shoppers and taken a toll on sales. Waldmann said he'd been mulling whether to leave the neighborhood for months, but last week's attack made the decision seem even more appropriate.
"We've held out as long as we possibly can," he said. "It's a tough decision, but business has been on the decline in this neighborhood. We keep thinking it's going to get better, and it just keeps getting worse. I don't see how we can wait it out."
Beginning Friday, the store will host a liquidation sale that will run as long as it takes to clear out the bulk of the merchandise. Porter and Jensen's studio at University Village will remain open.
The store's roots stretch back to 1924, when William Lindenberg opened a jewelry shop at 1314 N.E. 45th St., next door to the store's current location. In 1944, the store was acquired by Anchor Jensen and Fred Nielsen, who ran it for 14 years.
When Warren Porter bought the store in 1958, he decided to keep the Jensen name. In 1962, he moved to the current corner spot.
Frank Asprea, the store's longtime general manager, said Porter was a meticulous professional who emphasized attentive customer service. Asprea remembered that Porter kept a pocket full of notes and often called customers to tell them about new merchandise, sometimes months after they'd last visited the store.
"That was the tradition he always had — don't spare anything whatsoever when it comes to personal attention and taking care of the customer," Asprea said. "And that's why they kept coming back. It's a rare commodity today. You don't get that anymore."
Porter ran his business with colorful aplomb. His son, Seattle Times photo director Cole Porter, remembered that one of his father's favorite sayings to customers was, "I guarantee my rings but not the romance."
The store felt the brunt of anti-Vietnam War protests on The Ave in the late 1960s and early '70s, when demonstrators broke in and looted the store. Still, it served as a neighborhood anchor for decades, winning the Mayor's Small Business Award in 1990.
Warren Porter, now retired and in declining health, sold the store to Waldmann in 1999. Waldmann opened the University Village location last year.
Today, The Ave is dotted with vacant storefronts, many with graffiti scrawled on the windows. The former Nordstrom building across the street from Porter and Jensen had been home to a Pier One Imports, but that closed last year. Waldmann said his block alone has 10 empty stores.
The Seattle transportation department has mounted a project aimed at improving traffic flow in the neighborhood and making the street more pedestrian-friendly. Construction on the Ave Street Project — which will create wider sidewalks and improve lighting and landscaping — is due to begin in mid- to late June.
Nancy Copeland, a University of Washington information-services employee and longtime Porter and Jensen customer, said she "just about died" yesterday when she walked past the store and saw going-out-of-business signs. "That was the only store on The Ave that was worth going in — everything else is restaurants," Copeland said. "They had unique things, things you wouldn't find in other jewelry stores."
For Copeland, a 28-year UW veteran, the store's closure is just the latest reason The Ave has lost its appeal.
"The whole Ave is hurting," she said. "I regret (Porter and Jensen) leaving, but I admit: When I retire, I won't be coming back to The Ave anyway. There's no reason."
Jake Batsell: 206-464-2718 or jbatsell@seattletimes.com.