The Purple Store

The Purple Store exterior

I've driven past The Purple Store for years now. I often wondered about the shop, but assumed that the store sold purplewear to Red Hat Society Ladies, and I'm not yet in that demographic. 

Recently, I discovered that The Purple Store sells all manner of brightly-colored purplery, including, but not limited to: 

• Purple duct tape

• Purple t-shirts

• Purple office chairs

• Purple K-state Christmas ornaments 

• Purple waste bags

• Purple luggage 

• Purple die for Dungeons and Dragons games

• Purple camo clothes 

• Purple Le Creuset kitchen stuff

• Everything you need to create an all-purple-accessory bathroom 

Rat-Cthulu dog toy, terrifying and mesmerizing

Most were in what might be called the royal purple or grape-purple hue. The incredibly nice clerk (wearing a purple sweatshirt) said sometimes they had trouble with ordering wholesale purple items, as it might look purple online or be described as "pearlescent" but ended up having not enough purple to really be called purple. It's a unique problem to face. 

Purple tees

According to a sign in The Purple Store, 8% of their e-mail list members have the word "purple" somewhere in their e-mail name. The shop's popular online retail marketplace offers additional purple items. I did a few searches, and it seems no other color can boast its own online and brick-and-mortar shop. 

So the owner's favorite color must be purple, right? Nope, blue. The owner happened upon the purle-store idea when he realized the enthusiasm of purple fans, the clerk told me. Appropriately, the shop's dedication to customer service includes special-ordering purple stuff for web or in-person shoppers. 

While I was there, a female shopper wearing a purple shirt blended right in, no camo necessary.

I asked if Red Hat Ladies did indeed shop here, and the clerk said indeed, they visited in small groups. 

Purple bags, trunks, camo and plush toys

Although black is my favorite color, I'm no anti-purple partisan, so I bought a teapot to replace our stained, broken and possibly lead-paint-colored yellow teapot. 

High-quality purple kitchenware

We were handed our purchase in a purple bag, with a purple receipt. If you're gonna go purple, you don't go halfway. You go full purple. 

If you want to visit The Purple Store, go soon -- it's slated for demolition to make way for condos and street-level retail. 

The Purple Store 
Address: 7616 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
Web: https://www.thepurplestore.com/