At 10:30pm on a Friday night, Seattleites shoot hoops on an old-school Pop-A-Shot, shop vintage T-shirts, and compete in Wii Mario Kart races. Hip-hop music blasts; racks of jerseys and Carhartt jackets hang across from jewelry and curated housewares underneath exposed wood beams. The night is just getting started at Capitol Hill’s Late Night Vintage Mall.

Outside, music is also coming from across-the-street neighbor La Josie’s; kitty-corner Biang Biang Noodles closed hours ago. People filter in and out of Pike Street’s venues, from Neumos and La Dive, cocktail bars Life on Mars and Belmont. But this is no drinking establishment; it’s part store, part “cool kick-it spot,” per the owner. Late Night Vintage founder Jesus McCloskey set out to expand the definition of Seattle’s nightlife scene when he opened three years ago.

“I've always been a night owl,” McCloskey says. Being late to early-morning classes went hand in hand, and he once failed a college course for being tardy too many times. Now, though, the tables have turned. “It’s so full circle to run a business that’s all about being late; like, late is the whole thing.” Like a business open so far into the evening they technically close the next day (12am to be exact) and don’t open again until noon.

His idea for late-night retail was born in 2022 while he worked at the Bogey Boys pop-up store. Macklemore’s golf and lifestyle brand had settled into the space near Elliott Bay Book Company for six months, also turning the basement into a vintage mall under the moniker Goose Magees. There, using the mall model popular with similar spots like Fremont Vintage Mall, vintage resellers could rent space to hang their finds and let Goose Magees handle the retail overhead.

Something interesting happened around Goose Magees’ 7pm closing time: “Around dinner time, people would come in, be a little tipsy after dinner, wine, or whatever. It was a whole different vibe in that later half of the day,” McCloskey says. People popped in and out of shops looking for an activity, something to do after happy hour or dinner plans wrapped up. McCloskey set out to provide just that.

"Yeah, we came from dinner," says a first-time customer on a recent night, paper bag of leftovers in hand. "We're waiting for our reservation for drinks." Flipping through a rack of jackets, his partner offers: "We were just walking down the street and I was like 'We have to come back.'" 

The bumping music, the retro games, and the whole vibe around Late Night Vintage are intentional. Opening day—a pouring October Friday in 2022 that brought in around $10,000 from 8pm to 2am—boasted a pool table and chess setup amid the usual sweatshirts, jeans, and shoes. Instead of focusing on turnover and sales, McCloskey says, “We always knew that we wanted to be a place where people would come and hang out."

“My favorite compliment about the store is when I hear people walk out and they go, ‘Wow, that was fun.’ That’s all I want to hear. And fun doesn’t always equal dollars, but I think for some reason, that’s just all I’ve ever wanted out of a business.”

McCloskey’s vision is now in three locations: the original Capitol Hill spot, one near Pike Place Market, and a new location in the University District that opened this fall. Being in areas with high foot traffic is paramount, McCloskey says. He still works the register some nights, routinely watching people wander in, their curiosity piqued by the music (several dozen decibels louder than in your average store), eclectic window displays, or just the fact that a Seattle store is still open at, whoa, 11:30pm.

Others have followed suit. Insomnia Cookies moved into Capitol Hill in May, dishing cookies until 1am. Breakaway Vintage, the shop that shares part of Late Night Vintage’s footprint, also soldiers on until midnight. “We’re a young city” full of late-night potential, McCloskey says. “One day, we’re gonna be this city that is open at all times of the day.”

Seattle gets a bad rap for our current shortage of late-night options, but the status quo doesn’t need to continue, McCloskey says. Build it, and they will come: “The night owls are definitely here. I think we’ve proven that.”