Employees, customers are becoming ‘numb’ to downtown Seattle issues

Piroshky Piroshky on Third Avenue in downtown Seattle. (Screengrab from KIRO 7 TV)

After a challenging last six months for many companies, some are only now getting the chance to finally reopen. There is a store on Third Avenue in downtown Seattle called Piroshky Piroshky, and it is owned by Olga Sagan. She reopened this location on Monday of this week.

Within three hours of opening their doors, Sagan said they saw a couple of drug stores, someone exposing themselves, and a knife attack with the police.

“I don’t think that’s new in downtown Seattle. I think that’s been a problem for a long time, ”she said. “… That was a very eventful morning for us.”

Unfortunately, Sagan says she wasn’t surprised.

“When we opened there three years ago, we knew where we were opening,” she said of Third Avenue.

But three years ago she said that a great effort had been made to help the homeless in the area and to clean up the downtown streets.

“There was a lot of hope in the air for downtown services,” she said. “I think that’s why we opened there and it’s just sad to see that three years later we’re in worse shape than we were three years ago when we heard the promises of change.”

Sagan now describes how they have two customer groups. There are those who can work from home or are somewhat flexible and no longer feel safe coming to downtown Seattle. Then there are those – and Sagan considers himself part of that group – who are almost deaf to these problems.

“It’s kind of scary to see that numbness in some way,” she said. “And what we saw on Monday morning is, as I said, nothing new there either. It just happens to be our opening day … we told a story about how we are reopening and we had to reveal it a bit further and remind everyone that we are still grappling with the same issues that we were dealing with many years ago, COVID or not. Personally, I don’t think it’s COVID. “

Sagan has reached out to councilor Andrew Lewis in the past, but he eventually spoke to her after KIRO 7 TV aired a story about the reopening of their store on Third Avenue.

“I was glad he got in touch because all we want to do is just ask a few questions,” she said. “What’s the plan? What can we as entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs do besides open doors, offer services, provide food, what else can we do? Because what we feel is that we are doing our job. We don’t want to finger show, but also say: ‘Hey, let’s all do our part here.’ “

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She hopes that there can be more consistency in the future.

Sagan recalls that after the shootings at Third and Pine in January 2020, the mayor came out and met with everyone and promised there would be increased police presence and services to improve the security of the neighborhood.

“And we all know what happened a few months later and where we are now,” Sagan said, referring to the pandemic that followed. “So I think there has been a lack of consistency and long-term planning so far, and maybe that can be changed at some point.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show on weekday afternoons from 12-3pm on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.