The Retail Empire of Front Street
How Toklas, Singerman & Co. transformed a Seattle storefront into a massive, booming mercantile powerhouse at the dawn of 1891.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The close of the year 1890 finds us in a most contented state of mind. Since January 1, 1890, we have had the most prosperous year we have ever known, exceeding by far our most sanguine expectations. Since June 6, the day we moved into our new store, the volume of our business has been double that of any similar length of time during our existence in Seattle. Our one acre and one-third of floors have been productive the past year. Five floors, making in all an area of one acre and one-third, have been thronged with busy people from morning to night. It has been the busiest acre and one-third on the Pacific Coast, and it is the most fertile spot in the great State of Washington. We are proud of it; everybody in Seattle is proud of it. Over one hundred persons are necessary to keep in order this acre and one-third—over 100 busy, active people, who from morning to night are working to supply your wants.
“It has been the busiest acre and one-third on the Pacific Coast, and it is the most fertile spot in the great State of Washington.”
This 1891 advertisement highlights the rapid commercial expansion of Seattle's waterfront, then known as Front Street (now First Avenue). Today, this area remains a core transit and retail corridor, though the 'one acre' of department store floors has been replaced by the high-density urban development and tech-driven retail shifts that continue to define the city's economic heartbeat.
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