Seattle Growth Podcast 7.2: the pandemic’s effect on retail and residents

With the COVID-19 pandemic still wreaking havoc, will Seattle continue to be a desirable place to live, work and do business?

Season 7 of the Seattle Growth Podcast continues to explore these questions through interviews with an array of leaders, influencers and everyday Seattleites.

Episode 2 takes on the pandemic’s effect on retail and residents of some of Seattle’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.

Pete Nordstrom, president of the iconic retailer that carries his family name, shares his view of emerging trends in retail that have been accelerated by the pandemic, and how Nordstrom is responding. In a candid interview, he also comments on this year’s changes in Seattle and the outlook for its future.

Robbie Hill, a long-time resident of Seattle’s Central District whose funk and soul music captured the hearts of his city—and the nation—with Robbie Hill’s Family Affair, shares what he is seeing during bus rides in the midst of the pandemic, and makes a request of Seattle Growth Podcast listeners.

The Seattle Growth Podcast is hosted and produced by Jeff Shulman, the Marion B. Ingersoll Professor of Marketing at the UW Foster School of Business.

Shulman is also the co-director and producer of On the Brink, the acclaimed documentary of history, hope and determination to save the soul of Seattle’s vanishing Central District. The music of Robbie Hill opens the film.