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This first Seattle outlet of the Schwabacher Brothers and Company general store chain, opened on 10/11/1869 on Front Street (what became First Avenue South) and Mill Street (Yesler Way). Bailey Gatzert (1829-1893), the brother-in-law of Schwabachers, supervised operations of this first Seattle outlet, and later became a leader in the city's business and Jewish communities. He diversified the combined interests of the Schwabacher Family and himself into other businesses, including banking, warehousing, real estate and milling. Gatzert was especially important in early Seattle's efforts to develop utilities and transportation networks.

The Schwabacher Store #1 became a key daily outfitter for settlers in early Seattle, WA, as well as an expedition outfitter for several gold rushes that occurred in WA, BC, AK, and the Yukon Territories during the last quarter of the 19th century. The Jewish Genealogical Society of WA described the store's inventory: "The new Seattle store was ideal for a frontier community. An 1878 Schwabacher ad reminded customers, 'anticipating the wants of the public during these hard times, Schwabacher Bros. And Co. offers all kinds and classes of domestics regardless of cost…. We still give as an inducement ten per cent off for cash on Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots and Shoes.' A Seattle newspaper of 1881 called the company the 'leading mercantile house in the Northwest' and that it advertised 'dry goods, clothing, fancy goods, hats, boots and shoes, carpets, oilcloth, groceries, liquor, paints, oils, agricultural implements, crockery, flour, feed, shingles, doors, windows, iron steel, wallpaper…. Everything a specialty, one price only, the larges stock of dry goods ever brought to any interior town.' The Company even developed its own in-house labels for its goods—including 'Colonial' and 'Old Faithful.'" (See Jean Roth, "The Schwabacher Family: Part 1: The Schwabacher Family of Washington State,"Accessed 01/31/2013.) The firm became something of a vertical monopoly, as it branched its business out from retailing to other parts of its supply chain, including milling and shipping. The Schwabachers owned two grist mills to supply their stores with grain, and operated a large wharf in Seattle, that became a key docking and warehousing location for ships entering Elliott Bay. The Schwabachers also diversified into real estate, forming the Gatzert-Schwabacher Land Company, which accumulated significant holdings in King, Pierce, Jefferson, and Skagit Counties.

Demolished; another Schwabacher Building went up on or near this location.

PCAD id: 15304