Union Station Market

Maybe it’s because I’m not a Seattle native, but I just love this little dive store. Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, it’s dirty, very dirty. However, the employees have always been super polite and there’s a certain charm to the grimey, run down interior. It’s a nice contrast to the shiny newness of downtown.
Also, make sure you bring cash, the debit terminal fees are excessive.

The Union Station Market works exactly as the name entails. If you go the station, here is an option.
I went here before my BoltBus ride looking for something to bring onboard. There were all the basic processed food, liquor and convenience store stuff. Many of the aisles were thin, yet the employees were fairly friendly.
It is packed like a classic urban village, but that at least allows for lots of things being stored. Otherwise, it would remond me of New York City’s early 20^th century slums.
When I got the 32 ounce Coke and a large Pringles, it was over $ 4 for things made with corn by argibusiness intuition. This isn’t the highway robbery of an airport, but this ain’t low prices either.
Try checking out something else on the block.

This is one of the dirtiest most horrible places in Seattle. The service was the worst and the clerks were super rude. Please boycott this place!

This place is sort of the dive bar (greasy spoon?) of convenience stores. There is a fairly high probability that you will be spare-​changed by the collection of homeless guys on the corner as you go in or come out, so the owner is fighting an uphill battle here. Naught to fear, the sparechangers aren’t going to be very aggressive because this area is also loading with transit cops, sheriffs and the occasional SPD officer.
Due to proximity to a fairly high concentration of homeless people, this market is one of the Seattle convenience stores that is prohibited from selling malt liquor and bumwine, so the homeless people are protected from getting drunk efficiently. The local clientele also makes for an unusual mix of things for sale, with cheap frozen dinners being featured rather prominently.
The place looks kinda grimy, despite reeking of PineSol. I’m thinking that if I owned the place I would shut down for a couple of days and go on a serious clean, buff, polish and paint campaign before opening again.
Not sure how the service is, I didn’t see anything I needed to buy, so I walked out empty-​handed.

I write this review with sadness, because I typically look for the best in places, but I left this convenience store feeling very uncomfortable and angry with the service that I received.
I went into this store not for an actual item but because I needed to break a $ 5 for some change for the bus. I knew I needed to buy something, but when I did, it turned out that I spent more than $ 2.50, oops! I didn’t have enough for the bus trip, so I asked the guy at the register if he could break another $ 5 bill while the register was open. He pretty coldly said no because he was running low and the banks were already closed, which I suppose I understood but still found annoying, because there was a second register. He could have asked the other worker to help me out.
After the transaction, the only option I had was to buy something else to break my other $ 5. I grabbed some piece of candy and went to the other register where the younger guy was working. I asked the guy if he had enough change, and he said yes and gave me my change. The original man (who wouldn’t break my $ 5) noticed that I was over at the other register, and he very bluntly and randomly asked me if I was married or if I was single. He was doing this to tease the younger guy at the register, but I was so bothered. I may be a woman, but I’m a person, you know!
So the entire experience — everything from the careless service to the rude comment — left a very sour taste in my mouth. I won’t be going back, that’s for sure!

I don’t like to overuse the word «ghetto,» but I’m sorry — this place is, by Seattle standards, ghetto. There are frequently cop cars right outside the door, nabbing someone for something.
In the three years I have worked a block away, the only two times I have been here are:
— when I lived nearby (I moved away as soon as my lease was up), my sink was clogged, Uwajimaya was closed, and I desperately needed Drano. The bottle I picked up was ridiculously dusty.
— when a homeless person talked me into buying him food here cause I didn’t have enough cash to give him
Cash or debit only.
This is a get-​out-​as-​quickly-​as-​you-​can place. I would stop in here for a bottled soda or bag of chips but not anything more.