AKA: Kress, S.H., and Company, Store, Downtown, Seattle, WA; Independent Grocers Association, (IGA), Supermarket, Downtown, Seattle, WA

Structure Type: built works - commercial buildings - stores

Designers: Emil J.T. Hoffman (architect)

Dates: constructed 1923-1924

3 stories, total floor area: 77,555 sq. ft.

1423 3rd Avenue
Downtown, Seattle, WA 98101-2121

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Third Avenue and Pike Street; also 215 Pike Street;

The S.H. Kress and Company occupied this three-story, reinforced-concrete building from 1924-1974; it was the first Kress Five-and-Ten-Cent outlet in WA. Brothers, Donald and Paul Etsekson, bought the Kress Building in 1994 for $3 million; in 08/2007, they signed a 35-year lease with Myers Group, a Whidbey Island-based company which was to run the IGA grocery store. Myers operated retail stores in Seattle at the time, including two other IGA supermarkets, three hardware stores, and three service stations. Previously, a document storage facility occupied the 18,000 square-foot basement where the IGA was constructed. Originally, the basement had brown terrazzo floors and high ceilings, containing the Kress Store's lunch counter and retail space.

Located across the street from the Woolworth Store on the southeast corner of 3rd Avenue and Pike Street. In 2010, the Kress Building occupied 19,591 sq. ft. (0.45 acre) of land and had an assessed value of $13,566,300. Interior space stood at 77,555 gross square feet, 68,348 net.

Renovation of the interior occurred in 1934, supervised by Kress Company architect, Edward F. Sibbett. A new entryway was added to the corner of Pike Street and 3rd Street in 1941. Renovations took place in 1950. Renovations by Kress also occurred in 1967, in which interior decorative details were taken out and new shop windows, entries and marquees were installed. Porcelain enamel panels were put on the exterior to cover the original Gothic Revival decor. An IGA Supermarket was built to serve a growing downtown population, fed by condominium building in the mid-2000s.