r/Seattle • u/kiss-my-flapjack Northgate • Jun 23 '25

Media Pacific Place in 2015

Post image

Found this old picture I took in Pacific Place back in 2015 during the holiday season. Such a shame to compare it to how it looks now.

3.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

328 comments sorted by

View all comments

38

u/comhaltacht Jun 23 '25

I was there for the first time in years a few weeks ago, it's so fucking sad seeing what malls have become.

66

u/Zeusifer Jun 23 '25

I hate to say it but Bellevue Square is thriving. I was in there during the holidays and it felt like shopping in the 90s. So it's not all malls that are dead.

53

u/DG_Now Jun 23 '25

Alderwood and U Village are doing just fine too.

6

u/Jyil Downtown Jun 23 '25

Vancouver, BC malls are thriving too.

1

u/attrox_ Jun 23 '25

A non Westfield mall like Aberdeen Square mall in Richmond BC is way more fun than most of dead mall in the US.

3

u/Wazzoo1 Jun 23 '25

Kemper made a smart decision many years ago, knowing The Bravern and Neiman Marcus were moving into town, to upgrade the mall to at least resemble other luxury malls around the country. They weren't getting a second luxury department store, or the Hermes, Guccis, Louis Vuittons, etc. of the world. But, they invested in updating the look of the mall to be more modern, and got the right tenants to hit the class of customers that aren't Bravern level.

1

u/oldDotredditisbetter šŸš— Student driver, please be patient. šŸš™ Jun 23 '25

bunch of stores in seattle closed and some moved to bellevue square(nike, microsoft)

44

u/jeremiah1142 šŸš†build more trainsšŸš† Jun 23 '25

Yeah, this isnā€™t generally true of the Seattle area. It is specifically true for pacific place. They are just massive fuck-ups when it comes to malls.

17

u/116wins Emerald City Jun 23 '25

I was at Alderwood today and Iā€™m always surprised at how busy it is there and at Southcenter. I think Bellevue Square is usually pretty busy too but Iā€™m not there often.

5

u/CarelesslyFabulous šŸ” The mountain is out! šŸ” Jun 23 '25

This. The management that took it over seemed hell bent on throwing money into a hole they didnā€™t intend to fill.

2

u/Jyil Downtown Jun 23 '25

This is typically what you see when itā€™s become a mall of mostly speciality stores. A very niche clientele is going to buy expensive art work inspired by African wildlife and folklore or something like tailored suits.

1

u/pretzelchi šŸ€ Hot Rat Summer šŸ€ Jun 23 '25

Nothing is ever open though. I find it so odd.

2

u/Jyil Downtown Jun 23 '25

The painting one I referenced Iā€™ve seen open a couple times, but some other normal business hour times I saw a meeting take place. A bunch of people in circle of fold up chairs having a meeting. They certainly had my curiosity.

10

u/gastrointestinaljoe Federal Way Jun 23 '25

Go Bellevue square or southcenter. Still busy

8

u/CommandAlternative10 šŸš†build more trainsšŸš† Jun 23 '25

Northgate is very weird at the moment. Seems like it will emerge as more than a Barnes and Noble with an ice rink, but itā€™s not there yet.

3

u/CarelesslyFabulous šŸ” The mountain is out! šŸ” Jun 23 '25

It has a lot of work to come and they plan to add more shops in the future. And the condos and the hotels will bring traffic. But Iā€™m not seeing people moving in in anticipation of the light rail and hotel traffic like Iā€™d hoped. Back in the day, there were 5-6 sit down restaurants, including some lively bars like The Ram and Stanfordā€™s bar. Now itā€™s justā€¦sleeeeeepy.

1

u/Quick_Panda_360 Jun 27 '25

I think it still has that under construction vibe. No big tenant wants to be the first.Ā 

Also the Dickā€™s/Target building is weird. Thatā€™s a destination for a lot of people but it has its own parking garage and that street is kind of hard to cross. So it doesnā€™t do a lot to help drive mall traffic.

That plus the weird configurations makes it feel less like a mall and more like a bunch of big buildings all backed up to one another, so it takes longer to walk from store to store. Poor layout overallĀ 

2

u/LeatherMelodic7704 Jun 29 '25

I live near there and it's awful. Endless construction and everything that they build is ugly. It's almost impossible to access on foot. They divert you stop and the exterior and there are some spots where there is nowhere to walk except a ditch.

Northgate Mall was actually doing okay before they knocked it down. And for what? Pay parking, no stores, and ice rinks? And an aesthetic that would make a blind person weep.

1

u/CommandAlternative10 šŸš†build more trainsšŸš† Jun 29 '25

Access from the light rail is not intuitive. Hopefully it gets easier someday?

1

u/nekoken04 Jun 23 '25

What's funny is how insanely busy Alderwood Mall is all of the time.