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Community reaction to Bartell’s closure in Chinatown


by Assunta Ng
Northwest Asia Weekly

Bartell Drugs storefront (photo by Assunta Ng)

Bartell Drugs is closing its locations on 4th Avenue South and Jackson Street South in Seattle’s Chinatown International District (CID).

“Given the number of robberies in our store, I knew it was coming,” said a Battelle employee who was not authorized to speak on its behalf. “But I’m still sad and shocked. We’ve built a relationship with our customers.”

In a statement, Bartell parent Rite Aid said the decision to close stores was based on factors including “commercial strategy, leasing and rental considerations, local business conditions and viability and store performance.”

Ironically, Battle was founded on the same street, South Jackson Street, more than a century ago. In 1890, George H. Bartell Sr. purchased the Lake Washington Pharmacy at 2711 South Jackson Street, its first store in central Seattle.

Sam Chan, owner of Luke’s Pharmacy in Chinatown, had no idea that Bartell was closing.

“Even though we have no business dealings, I am saddened by this news. I am saddened by the loss to the community. Why does it have to be? The closure of businesses in Chinatown is like downtown. We all see the community is suffering. But we don’t know what to do.”

“It’s really unfortunate,” said Florette Lam, owner of Dr Lam Sing’s clinic. “We lost a convenient place nearby where I could buy snacks, makeup and groceries. Most of our customers go to Luke’s Pharmacy, but we do have a small percentage of our customers who use Bartell’s services.

The two pharmacies have different products. She was also surprised by Battelle’s closure.

Don Blakeney, the former director of the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement District, recalled that he and others had “advocated for developers to introduce an active ground floor “retail store” to better serve the tens of thousands of commuters and residents every day. People who were all in the area. Bartell was chosen by the developers…because there weren’t many pharmacies nearby at the time.”

Bartell was not only affected by the looting, but also by homeless people outside the storefront and looting, vandalism and graffiti on the glass doors. From the corner of Battle to 12th Avenue South in Little Saigon, South Jackson Street has become a place where the homeless congregate and sell their swag by day and sleep at night.

“While pharmacies provide an important community amenity, they also serve as bulwarks, as they are often targeted by retail theft gangs,” Blakeney said. “They have to enhance their appearance, so they can pull life and activity off the sidewalk by blocking the windows while leaving a long stretch of the street where there are no eyes.”

Homelessness is a major problem for many CID businesses, Lin said. She noted that the community has lost Starbucks in CID due to safety and crime concerns.

“If you’re homeless, I know you need a roof at night,” Lin said. “But you go to bed and leave in the morning, don’t disturb the peace until businesses open and residents wake up, and no one cares. We pretend we didn’t see it. But if your actions affect public safety, that’s unacceptable.”

“Homeless people know that if you call the police, the police won’t come,” Chen said. “Or they (the police) came after an hour after the destructive people left.”

The city’s police shortage is another challenge, Chen said.

“The city seems to be anti-police. If someone had a choice, they might not even consider joining the Seattle Police Department. They are popular in other cities, including Bellevue.”

Both Chan and Blakeney said the closure of Bartell was a national trend. Major pharmacy companies like Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens are rethinking the role they need to have so much representation in big cities and the role of online services.

“If there are two stores close to the other and one isn’t doing well, the business will close the less successful store. That will reduce costs,” Chan said.

The Bartell store will close on September 14, and 14 employees will be reassigned to other Bartell locations in different parts of the city. Customers have been told to pick up their medicines by September 13. Currently, most items in the CID Bartell store are 50% off.

The chain last closed a store in downtown Seattle in 2019, after Bartell was acquired by Rite Aid for $95 million in 2020. At the time, the company blamed crime and regulations for the closure.

Assunta can reach assunta@nwasianweekly.com.



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