Shoppers scrounging up a few dollars for some new clothes might want to think twice before flashing a U-PASS and hopping onboard a downtown-bound bus. Even the stroll down to University Village might not be necessary; University Way Northeast, known locally as “the Ave,” now hosts a burgeoning retail sector that has doubled in size during the past decade.

Among the 20 stores selling clothes along the Ave, more than half have opened within the past 10 years. Six of these businesses opened either this year or in 2008. Many replaced businesses that served a different function: Goodwill replaced Tommy’s, the college bar and music venue, and Crossroads Trading Co. set up shop in what was once the computer and electronics section of the University Book Store.

Others appeared in new developments. The Lothlorien apartment building along the Ave’s 4700 block hosts three new retailers: Upper Playground, Turquoise Boutique and Fetch Boutique.

“There’s just a whole new sense of interest and pride and investment here,” said Jon Marmor, co-editor for the UW Alumni Association magazine Columns and 1994 UW graduate. “For somebody to invest in new buildings, that’s a huge commitment.”

Five years ago, the U-District Chamber of Commerce collected the results from a market-research survey and discovered the number-one thing respondents wanted to see in the area: more shopping venues.

Despite the recession, small businesses have leased space along the Ave for a mix of stores offering vintage or boutique styles. Several youth-oriented chains also plopped down a retail location along the Ave. American Apparel first occupied the old Pier 1 Imports building in 2005, and Urban Outfitters replaced Tower Records in 2007.

“For a place like Urban Outfitters to come here instead of U-Village or some place … it was a very [calculated] business move,” Marmor said. “There are people saying ‘we want to be here,’ and that’s quite a statement.”

The Ave’s rise and fall

The same buildings once housed two retailers Seattleites now associate with downtown shopping: Nordstrom and JC Penney. Prior to Pier 1’s stay, the American Apparel building hosted one of Seattle’s first Nordstrom stores, and a JC Penney department store occupied the current Urban Outfitters site.

Decades ago, shoppers used to come from throughout the city to enjoy the shopping on the Ave because only downtown ranked higher in size as a commercial district. A UW architecture professor even proposed turning the Ave into a pedestrian shopping mall — twice.

The Ave, however, fell in esteem after Northgate Mall opened in 1950 and suffered more when high-end retailers began to flee the area for U-Village following its remodel during the early ’90s. Warren Porter, owner of Porter-Jensen Jewelers, once said, “Nice people are gone; it’s like a jungle on the Avenue,” shortly before transferring his business to U-Village; his shop had occupied the corner of Northeast 45th Street and University Way Northeast for decades prior to the move.

With some high-end retail moving out and larger department stores like Nordstrom and JC Penney long gone, Marmor penned a story called “The Fall (and Rise?) of the ‘Ave’” for Columns. In his 1995 story, Marmor bemoaned empty storefronts and narrow sidewalks and the numerous “street kids” roaming about the Ave when he wrote that the street was declining.

“We lost a lot of retail,” said Louise Little, University Bookstore director of personnel and 1981 UW alumna. “The street was just run-down. Sidewalks were in disrepair.”

The past decade:

A revitalized Ave

But Ave business owners had reason to perk up at the beginning of the new millennium when the U-District Chamber of Commerce and the City of Seattle forged a partnership to improve the Ave. Workers widened sidewalks and planted trees. Students created art for new lampposts. The city and the university worked together to brighten up Ave storefronts through the city’s Façade Improvement Program.

“Then, from that, I think some of these new businesses started coming in,” said Scott Soules, an Ave commercial property owner and 1971 UW graduate.

Following these improvements, owners of smaller chain stores began to make the decision to set up shop along the Ave. Some, like Upper Playground, already had stores in London, San Francisco and Los Angeles when they chose the Ave for their Seattle location.

“The direction that the retail stores on the Ave have headed has created a contemporary, metropolitan fashion district — the best in the city,” wrote Jen Vertz, Upper Playground manager, in an e-mail.

Still room to improve

Several community members wondered whether this upward trend could sustain itself.

“Retail is pretty dynamic, and it changes pretty frequently,” Soules said. “What was a big deal a while ago is not a big deal now. You’re kind of at the mercy of the fickle public.”

As a third-generation Ave property owner, Soules has seen plenty of businesses come and go. He holds up one of his tenants, Woolly Mammoth, as an example of how owners have adapted to the times: The shop sold handmade leather vests with woolen interiors during the ’70s and transitioned to selling comfort shoes as the 1970s style went out of fashion.

Despite the number of businesses opening, the recession and tight student budgets pose problems for these businesses’ long-term viability along the Ave. And some people do not even view the Ave as a destination shopping district.

“I don’t think the Ave will be the first place shoppers will think of when they need to buy the types of clothing or underwear or socks that you could get in other shopping centers,” Marmor said.

Others pointed toward the youth-oriented clothing businesses as a sign that the community is growing healthier, but the Ave still lacks stores catering to families. While not a concern for UW students, the university does hope to attract more faculty and staff to residences closer to campus.

“You don’t want that new mom to have to go to Northgate to buy socks for her kid,” said Karen Ko, University Neighborhood district coordinator.

Nonetheless, Marmor stressed that new developments like the Lothlorien bode well for the community because it means developers had enough confidence in the neighborhood to undertake large-scale, expensive projects. Soules, too, said the Ave is now “better than it has been.”

While Nordstrom and JC Penney may never return, the community can still find other ways to ensure the Ave remains a place where, as Vertz writes, people walk around with a “young, hip, happy attitude.”

“I don’t think it does any good to remember the businesses that were here,” Ko said.

In the words uttered over so many decades, by everyone from city officials to business owners, residents to students, one thing seems to remain constant, Soules, longtime Ave property owner sums it up: “It’s a great neighborhood.”

Reach reporter Andrew Doughman at news@dailyuw.com.