SEATTLE — Bartell Drugs will close their location at 3rd Avenue and Union Street in downtown Seattle.
The local drugstore chain said Friday they will close the store before their lease ends but continue to pay rent on the empty location.
In a statement, Bartell Drugs said the closure is because of the “cost of doing business downtown due to the need for armed security guards, and the increases from a variety of Seattle’s costly requirements that have come into play over the past few years.”
The store said it would cost less to pay rent and not occupy the downtown location than it would to operate the store.
“While it is always a difficult decision to close a store, we are dedicated to providing excellent service to our customers until we close the store,” Bartell Drugs said in a statement.
A new Bartell’s location will open in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood in early October. A spokesperson said the lease for the store was signed before the decision to not open any other Bartell Drugs locations in downtown Seattle.
