Uwajimaya
 |
Uwajimaya Village in Seattle's International District |
Uwajimaya is a
supermarket chain based in
Seattle, Washington, with three stores: in
Beaverton, Oregon;
Bellevue, Washington; and its flagship store in Seattle's
International District. Until the late 1980s there was another store near the
Southcenter mall in
Tukwila, Washington. Its corporate headquarters are in Seattle's
Industrial District.
Mainly selling
Asian food, with an emphasis on
Japanese, Uwajimaya also stocks Western staples.
Uwajimaya was founded in
1928 by Fujimatsu Moriguchi of
Yawatahama,
Japan, in
Tacoma, Washington, where he sold goods from his truck. It was named after the town of
Uwajima (
Ehime Prefecture), where he first entered the business.
As part of the
internment of Japanese Americans following the entry of the United States into
World War II, Moriguchi and his family were sent to the
Tule Lake Internment Camp in
1942. Upon their release, they moved to Seattle and set up shop on S. Main Street in the
International District.
In the 1960s Uwajimaya began to offer non-food items and food from other Asian countries than Japan and experienced tremendous growth at the
Century 21 Exposition In
1962. That same year, Fujimatsu Moriguchi died and passed control of the company to his 4 sons.
In
1970, the store moved two blocks south to 6th Avenue S. and S. King Street. An expansion was added in
1978.
2000 saw Uwajimaya's move across the street to 6th Avenue S. and S. Weller Street into a complex known as Uwajimaya Village, twice the size of the previous building. It includes a
food court,
bank,
restaurant,
optician,
beauty salon, and cosmetic shop, as well as a branch of the
Tokyo-based
Kinokuniya Bookstore selling books and magazines from Japan, in addition to the grocery, and features apartments on the second level. S. Lane Street was vacated to allow Uwajimaya to extend south to S. Dearborn Street, using the entire southern block for parking. The Lane Street closure was quite controversial within the community, many of whom were concerned that it would increase traffic, decrease emergency vehicle access, and have a negative economic impact on other businesses.
The Stranger Article Regarding Lane StreetSadako (Tsutakawa) Moriguchi, wife of Fujimatsu and sister of
George Tsutakawa, passed away in
2002.
*
Uwajimaya Company Website*
Lane Street Vacation*
Mainich Daily News Article Jan 06*
Seattle Times Article Nov 05
