Pike Place Market is a public market in Downtown. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront, it serves as a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. Named after the central street, Pike Place runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street. Pike Place Market is Seattle's most popular tourist destination and the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world, with more than 10 million annual visitors.
The Market is built on the edge of a steep hill and consists of several lower levels located below the main level. Each features a variety of unique shops such as antique dealers, comic book and collectible shops, small family-owned restaurants, and one of the oldest head shops in Seattle. The upper street level contains fishmongers, fresh produce stands and craft stalls operating in the covered arcades. Local farmers and craftspeople sell year-round in the arcades from tables they rent from the Market on a daily basis, in accordance with the Market's mission and founding goal: allowing consumers to "Meet the Producer".
Pike Place Market is home to nearly 500 residents who live in eight different buildings throughout the Market. Most of these buildings have been low-income housing in the past; however, some of them no longer are, such as the Livingston Baker apartments. The Market is run by the quasi-government Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA).
The Market is located roughly in the northwest corner of Seattle's central business district. To its north is Belltown. To its southwest are the central waterfront and Elliott Bay. Boundaries are diagonal to the compass since the street grid is roughly parallel to the Elliott Bay shoreline.
From a distance, the Market doesn’t look terribly large. A huge neon sign on the corner of Pike Street and Pike Place advertises the “Public Market Center” in 10 foot high neon letters. Directly below the sign is the main entrance to the building.
Pike Place
This street runs along an arcade located on the top story of the Pike’s Place Market. Traffic from cars is light; traffic from pedestrians, however, is heavy on the weekends. On the east side of the street, a series of shops sells everything from tie-dye T-shirts to Turkish delight. On the west side of the street is the market itself.
The Arcade
The top floor of the Market is busiest on the weekends. Fish merchants scream to passing customers, and fresh seafood rests on beds of ice. Street musicians compete for the crowd’s attention, vendors hawk from tables, farmers sell their produce, shoppers wander by in droves, and eccentric locals mingle in the crowd.
There are a few signs posted to encourage patrons to help “Save the Market.” The establishment was almost destroyed in the early ’70s until the community came to its aid. Since then, the merchants running the market have kept their home alive by using a number of unusual strategies. The most unusual can be found at the corner of Pike Place and Pike Street — parents and children often stop to put spare change into a four-foot-high brass piggy bank.
The Interior
The architecture inside the building dates back to 1907. A long walkway of ramps leads through six stories of shops and stores. Getting lost is extremely easy, but that does encourage tourists to stick around a little longer. Many of the merchants here specialize in the unusual. Browsers can examine Egyptian decorations, rare movie posters, antique dolls, collectible comic books, rare books, Native American artwork, French pastries, Japanese artwork, wind-up toys and other assorted curiosities.
The First Floor
The first floor of the building adjoins Western Avenue. The shops down here don’t get as much traffic as the stores along the Arcade. Most customers don’t enter the building from the ground floor, so the stores here cater to customers looking for high-priced items, such as antiques or specialty items.
Shops
- The Conjurer’s Cubbyhole; a magic shop
- Pike Place Fish Market
- Tenzing Momo; Tibetan herbal apothecary, selling exotic herbs and advice on their use.
