By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent
For the past few years, people on the east side of Lake Washington have had the option of filling their Judaica needs without having to cross a bridge into Seattle. After December 25, this era of being able to shop close to home will end.
Magneev!, the Judaica shop housed in the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island, already shut down over the summer. And at the end of this year, the Bellevue branch of Tree of Life Judaica & Books will close up shop as well. Tree of Life’s flagship Seattle store will remain open as a source of crafts, holiday goods and books.
The decision to shut down the Eastside outlet came as a result of changes beyond the store’s control. The low-rise retail mall that has housed Tree of Life since it opened in 2004 is being razed to make way for new construction, and there is an acute shortage of other affordable low-density retail storefronts in and around Bellevue.
“The building was sold maybe two years ago and the new owners have a big sign posted up at the corner — one of those city signs that tell you what’s going to happen,” said Judy Weiser, manager of the Bellevue Tree of Life store. She said the new owners plan to break ground in the parking lot outside the store before next Passover, which would not be good for their business. Weiser estimates that 60 to 70 percent of the store’s business happens during the 30 days before each of the three biggest Jewish holidays: The High Holidays, Hanukkah and Passover.
Stacy Schill, Tree of Life’s marketing director, said sales at the Bellevue location were also a factor in the decision to consolidate into one location.
“People like having the convenience of having the
Bellevue store, but it wasn’t doing as well as we’d like, which may be one of the factors,” she said. “We would’ve liked to have stayed because it is to have both locations.”
Weiser said that while the business at the store has been seasonal and that some days were much busier than others, that they were also making headway in that location.
“I personally think that it’s been an exciting time and place for us,” she said. “We all feel, as employees here, that we’ve done a lot of outreach and teaching to the customers that have come in here, Jews and non-Jews alike.”
Schill said Tree of Life’s owner, Emily Freedman, did look for an alternative retail location in the Bellevue area but ran up against the trend toward large malls dominating the retail business on the Eastside. She said that is in part a reflection of the way the city has grown up, with not many areas where people can stroll around and look at the stores.
“There is very little reasonably priced low-rise retail in the Bellevue area anymore. Most things are being torn down,” said Weiser. “As you drive by you can look and say, ‘Okay, I can see that probably within the next two years, this’ll be gone and that’ll be gone’ because, when you look around, everything is crane-infested.
“I think it’s really challenging for the small independent business owner. If you ask each of the stores in this center,” she added. “I’ve been talking to the other managers and owners to find out, ‘Where are you going? What’s going on?’ And it’s a struggle for them to find an appropriate location.”
Schill said they did consider moving into the JCC after Magneev! Closed, but the J could not provide them as large a space as they felt the would need to make a go of it there.
At the same time, Schill said, there will be alternatives when customers do not want to make the trip to Seattle to visit the store there. She said they plan to expand their existing online business and that “Tree of Life actually goes out to many organizations — we call it TOL On the Road” — staged gift fairs at places like the Jewish Day School and various local synagogues invite.
Despite the loss of the Eastside location, Schill is upbeat about the store’s continuing vibrancy.
“We believe we’ll still attract the same clientele over here [in Seattle],” she said. “We will be having some promotional ways to bring them over here. We certainly serve a niche for the Jewish population, as well as the secular world, believe it or not. We do have one-of-a-kind items and people think of us for specialty items, so people think of us that way. We are the Northwest Judaica shop at this point….We still are part of the Jewish community, so we’re happy to still be here.
Schill added that the Seattle store will continue holding events such as author visits and wine tastings.
“We want people to know that this is the place to find what you need, but also for educational purposes. People come in and ask questions and we have very knowledgeable people,” she said.
Despite planning to close at year’s end, Weiser said Freedman, the store’s owner, made a decision to go all out in preparation for the coming holiday season.
“Our store is full of Hanukkah,” she said. “[Freedman] decided not to do what was probably very tempting, which was just sell down what we have, but to make our store look very much ready for Hanukkah. She’s also offering a growing clearance section here of merchandise that have very deep discounts that will be great for customers.”
Also, the choice of a final day was made with the community in mind.
“We purposefully chose that our last day here will be December 25,” Weiser said, “because it’s a challenge for Jewish people to find something interesting to do on Christmas Day.”
Magneev! owner Judy Willson could not be reached for comment.