Get the creative juices flowing on street facing retail.

The most fun about walking around New York is that you never know what kind of shops you’ll find.

Unfortunately though, that isn’t always the case in Seattle. And it’s not going to get any better when some of the newer high-density developments ( Mirabella and 1200 Stewart) planned for Seattle turn don’t always include retail spaces that open out to the streets they border. But rather than blame them for this, maybe they didn’t include street opening retail simply because they don’t know what kind of retailers would do well in those spaces - so here are some suggestions.

A real ramen shop - for being a Pacific Rim city the most shocking thing about Seattle is our lack of quality ramen shops (Takohachi’s about it - and they close too early!). But wow, finding a real one in NY was great - the place was high-volume, bright, steamy, and most importantly…packed with customers. Put one of these bad boys on your ground floor and people will love for it. (photo on the right - a real bowl of miso ramen)

Drug stores and diners that are open early in the morning don’t close until late at night - SLU especially is in need of a drug store (and Whole Foods doesn’t just always cut it - sometimes the only thing that’ll cure your cold is a bottle of Nyquil and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.)  And finding late night dining in Seattle is hard work - and this city needs more options.

Speciality popcorn and a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Specialty cupcakes are already doing well in the city - so why not get a jump on the next big speciality food trend - popcorn! And if you need any help picking out a popcorn retailer - give Garrett’s a shot - if you ever want to bribe me, a bucket of their carmel/cheese mix would do the trick. And on another note, do you realize the Seattle market’s wide open for a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! - put one of these down by the Market and it’ll attract tourists like Seattlites to a plant sale.

Electronics shops and pubs. Why do downtowners/SLUers need to haul their butts up to the big shopping malls to buy their Xboxes and GPS devices? Probably because there aren’t many electronics retailers downtown. So why not try and encourage an electronics retailer to set up a crazy little gadget shop crammed with all kinds of blinking doo-dads, it may be more expensive - but a lot more convenient. And finally, more pubs, because, well, I like pubs.

Anyway, these are just some of my ideas…what kinds of retail stores would you like to see.