Seattle Cheesecake Factory location shuts down after 23 years

Seattle is losing another landmark chain restaurant as businesses continue to flee the downtown corridor.

On May 4, the Cheesecake Factory will be closing the doors of its busy 700 Pike St. location in downtown Seattle. However, none of the other Washington locations in Tacoma, Bellevue, Tukwila, and Lynnwood will be closing. Spokesperson Alethea Rowe told KOMO News that the decision was made after “extensive review and analysis,” adding that the company is helping Seattle staff transfer to other locations. "We have truly enjoyed being a part of the downtown Seattle community over the last 23 years and hope to continue to serve all our Seattle guests at our nearby restaurant locations."

At the end of 2023, the Hard Rock Café shuttered its location on the heels of Target announcing they would be closing two of their Seattle locations in response to theft and organized retail crime. The flagship Nike store that had been a Seattle icon since 1996 when it closed its doors in 2024 and Amazon Go closed its downtown locations due to underperformance. Some smaller, minority, and family-owned businesses have also announced closures.

At the beginning of the year, Starbucks permanently closed a store in a prime Seattle location that was always packed with customers. In 2022, safety concerns in the Emerald City and other Democrat-controlled municipalities were cited as reasons for closures when former Starbucks CEO and founder Howard Schultz told employees that the coffee giant would be closing 5 locations due to safety concerns.

At the time, Schultz blamed elected leaders of the Democrat cities where the stores were closing. "At the local state and federal level, these governments... and leaders, mayors and governors and city councils have advocated their responsibility in fighting crime & addressing mental illness." Crime, homelessness, rampant drug use, and lower foot traffic have all been cited in those analyzing Seattle’s decline.