Eddie Bauer leaving longtime Fifth and Union site

After anchoring the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Union Street for nearly a quarter-century, Eddie Bauer has opted not to renew the lease for its flagship store.

The Redmond-based outerwear and home-furnishings retailer will close the two-level, 32,000-square-foot store before its lease expires at the end of February. It has occupied the downtown space since 1979.

Company officials said the store's sales have fallen short of expectations. New downtown attractions — particularly Pacific Place and the new Nordstrom flagship store, which both opened in 1998 — have pulled the largest flows of customers a couple blocks north.

Eddie Bauer also has struggled nationally in recent years. A shift to dressier clothes failed to catch on, but sales trends have improved since the company returned to an outerwear format late last year.

The retailer says it's trying to find a smaller space downtown for an apparel store. Company founder and namesake Eddie Bauer opened his first sporting-goods store downtown in 1920.

"It's an important and special place for the company, and we are committed to staying in that area," Eddie Bauer spokeswoman Lisa Erickson said. "To us, this is more of a relocation than a closure."

Its departure from the Fifth and Union space, which is managed by Rainier Square developer Unico Properties, will trigger a series of changes in the neighborhood.

In a statement yesterday, Unico said it is on the verge of announcing a replacement tenant that will anchor a growing strip of upscale fashion shops along Fifth Avenue between Union and University streets.

Unico declined to identify the new tenant, calling it a "high-end national retail operation" which plans to turn the space into its "Northwest flagship."

But industry sources said the store will be taken over by venerable clothier Brooks Brothers, which is expanding under new ownership. Earlier this year, it opened a Southern California flagship on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

Brooks Brothers has a store across Fifth Avenue from Eddie Bauer, but in August, Chief Executive Claudio Del Vecchio told retail-industry publication WWD the company planned to open a new store in downtown Seattle.

Brooks Brothers representatives deferred comment to Mark Shulman, chief operating officer for its parent company, Retail Brand Alliance. Shulman could not be reached yesterday.

With Pacific Place, Nordstrom, Westlake Center and Bon-Macy's — all on Pine Street — now forming downtown's mainstream retail hub, Unico plans to go after high-end shoppers by adding more upscale stores along what it calls the "Upper Fifth" promenade, which includes The 5th Avenue Theatre.

Unico develops and manages a six-block downtown tract between Union and Seneca streets and Third and Sixth avenues, an area home to tony retailers such as Escada, St. John Boutique and Louis Vuitton, which is expanding from 1,800 to 3,200 square feet.

John Miller, Unico's general manager, said the idea is to turn the area into "Seattle's high-end retail destination" aimed at business professionals, older shoppers and tourists staying at the Fairmont Olympic and Monaco hotels.

"It's been something we've been wanting to do for four years," Miller said. "I think we need to establish our own niche. We understand that the retail core has moved north."

As part of this effort, Unico said it plans to build a 5,500-square-foot retail building in front of the IBM Building at Fifth and University. Construction is expected to begin once the company lands a lead tenant for the building.

Unico said it hopes to keep Eddie Bauer as a tenant by placing the retailer in a much smaller space somewhere within its six-block tract. Erickson said Eddie Bauer is "looking at a number of options" downtown.

The home-furnishings wing will gradually be transferred to a new home store at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood.

Erickson said the company has not decided whether to hold a liquidation sale at the downtown store, but she said some of the inventory likely will be transferred to other Seattle-area stores.

Eddie Bauer also will try to transfer the flagship store's 45 employees to other stores, Erickson said.

For the past year, Eddie Bauer has been closing stores in connection with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of its parent company, The Spiegel Group. The chain now has 468 stores, down from 572 a year ago.

At the same time, it's looking to expand in certain markets. Last month, Spiegel asked a federal judge for permission to open 17 new Eddie Bauer stores.

Spiegel spokeswoman Debbie Koopman has said the company is adjusting its lineup of Eddie Bauer stores "to make the portfolio as profitable as possible" as part of its reorganization.

Eddie Bauer has been a downtown Seattle fixture for most of the past 83 years.

Founder Bauer opened his first store in 1920 at 211 Seneca St., later moving to two other spaces on Seneca.

Other locations over the years have included Sixth Avenue and Union Street (1938-1951) and Third Avenue and Virginia Street (1971-1979). It did not have a downtown store from 1951 to 1971.

"Eddie himself moved a couple times to make sure he had the best location to serve his customers," Erickson said.

"We're just doing that same thing."

Jake Batsell: 206-464-2718 or jbatsell@seattletimes.com