SEATTLE — After 40 years inside Pike Place Market, First & Pike News will close on December 31, 2019.
On Saturday, the shop was busy with people looking to visit the shop for the last time. Dozens shared their memories and condolences with store cashier Rebecca Eider.
“It’s the end of an era for sure. It’ll be weird not being here,” Eider said to a customer.
The newsstand is owned by 78-year-old Lee Lauckhart. The newsstand has been a landmark entryway to Pike Place Market for four decades. When it first opened, it was called Read All About It, but in later years the name was changed to First & Pike News.
Eider said Lauckhart decided to close the store because it’s hard to make a profit at a print newsstand in the digital age. Eider added that Lauckhart’s age was also a factor in the decision to close the landmark.
“It’s a dinosaur though. Extinct. It’s extinct now,” said Eider, who’s worked at the stand for 13 years.
In the flow of people saying farewell Saturday, former Seattle Times Executive Editor David Boardman came by to take a picture.
“We were coming to pay our last respects to a place that was very important to us in the 30 years that we lived here,” said Boardman.
Once a customer at the newsstand, Boardman now serves as the Dean of Students for the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia.
“People like me are working really hard to save and preserve local news going forward,” explained Boardman. “This particular stand was a place we used to come and buy the out-of-town newspapers. At one point, I think they had more than 200 out-of-town newspapers.”
Boardman said it’s hard to see a spot once filled with tremendous energy close. He hopes people treasure it in its final weeks.
“I hope what they appreciate is a business that was built on providing the world to people. It really was,” said Boardman.