Around 1910, Sears, Roebuck & Company, the Chicago mail order business, located its new Western Branch in Seattle. The new facility opened in 1913 and was south of downtown and handy to streetcars and rail lines. From here, Sears supplied customers throughout the western states with everything from underwear and alarm clocks to farm equipment and metal ceilings.

This photo, taken about 1926, shows the Sears retail store, which opened in 1925, and mail order warehouse. Unlike the downtown area, there was plenty of parking. Sears sold the building to the Nitze-Stagen Company in 1989. Starbucks moved its administrative offices to the building in 1993, and Sears ended their involvement with the site in 2014, when they closed their retail store and neighboring auto center.

Photographer's Reference Number: 119469

Caption information source: "Sears, Roebuck and Company, Catalog Distribution Center and Department Store, SODO, Seattle, WA," PCAD, https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/8900/