Downtown Seattle’s Hard Rock Cafe will close later this year, following the closing of longstanding locations in Denver and Memphis, Tennessee, by the chain of rock ’n’ roll theme restaurants.
The three-story, 14,000-square-foot location at 114-116 Pike St. near Pike Place Market is slated to close Dec. 1, with 66 workers losing their jobs, according to a notice from the Washington Employment Security Department.
Hard Rock International has closed a string of standalone Hard Rock Cafe locations in the United States and worldwide as it has focused on acquiring and developing big hotel and casino properties in California, Florida, Las Vegas and even Sioux City, Iowa.
In July, the company closed Hard Rock Cafes in Denver and downtown Memphis, on top of other U.S. locations that have closed in recent years, including Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis and Minneapolis, according to local media reports. The chain has also closed restaurants in such locations as Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia.
In a statement emailed to local media outlets, the company based near Hollywood, Florida, that was acquired by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2007 did not rule out opening another unspecified type of venue in greater Seattle.
“We are currently expanding operations in 50 locations within the next five years and are open to having another location within the Seattle market if the right space can be identified," according to the statement.
Hard Rock International did not respond to a request from CoStar News to comment on the status of its Hard Rock Cafe and Hard Rock Hotels & Resorts footprint.
The company operates 32 Hard Rock Cafe locations in the United States, including Seattle, according to its website. Worldwide, it has nearly 250 venues in more than 70 countries, including 29 hotel casinos totaling more than 16,000 rooms.
Shift Toward Casino Resorts
Under tribal ownership, the company has increasingly been focused on more lucrative hotel and gaming resorts, David Sangree, president of hospitality consulting firm Hotel & Leisure Advisors, said in an email.
"The number of standalone restaurants has dropped, while they have continued to add more casinos and related hotels and entertainment amenities," Sangree said. "I would anticipate this trend to continue in the near future. The casino side of the business has been far more profitable and successful for the owners of the chain than the standalone restaurants."
In Seattle, Hard Rock opened in 2010 in the three-story, nearly century-old Liberty Building, renovated into a 425-seat restaurant and live-music venue with a rooftop deck and the chain’s signature “Rock Shop” that sells T-shirts, hoodies and other merchandise.
The cafe displays such memorabilia as an acoustic guitar owned by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vetter and the doorway from Robert Lang Studios, an iconic studio in nearby Shoreline frequented by such bands as Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie.
The company closed its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino after 25 years near the Las Vegas Strip in 2020. The property reopened in 2021 after a $200 million renovation as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Hard Rock reentered Las Vegas hotels last December, purchasing The Mirage Hotel & Casino from MGM Resorts for just over $1 billion cash. The company is pursuing the conversion of the hotel to the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas, with Clark County planning documents that show The Mirage's signature volcano replaced by a guitar-shaped hotel tower.
Among other investments, Hard Rock is investing $350 million in an upgrade of its casino purchased in 2017 in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. The company is rebranding the property as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa.
Stephanie Ricca of Hotel News Now contributed.