Capitol Hill butcher Rain Shadow Meats loses lease at Melrose Market

(Image: Rain Shadow Meats)

 (Image: Rain Shadow Meats)

The end of 2026 will bring the end of neighborhood butcher Rain Shadow Meats inside Capitol Hill’s Melrose Market.

One of the original tenants of the famed Capitol Hill market, Rain Shadow has lost its lease and plans to close its Melrose Market butcher shop — and hopefully find a new home – before its deal runs out in December, founder and owner Russ Flint announced Sunday night.

“Almost to the date I opened for business—April 23, 2010—here we are, 16 years later, at a crossroads. My lease is expiring, and the landlord has chosen not to allow me to re-sign and remain a tenant in Melrose Market,” Flint said in the announcement.

“When I opened the shop, I was 30 years old, and the thought of losing my lease never even crossed my mind. Alas, here we are.”

Flint, a sous chef at Renee Erickson’s Boat Street Cafe at the time, opened his butcher counter and cutting shop inside the market in the spring of 2010 as part of the first generation of tenants of the adaptive reuse development. Originally conceived as a butchery catering only to chefs and restaurants, Flint said at the time he realized the retail potential for Rain Shadow when the Melrose space became available. When it debuted that April, Rain Shadow featured a full butcher case for market shoppers as well as creations like house salami for another first generation market citizen, Sitka and Spruce.

The market and the butcher survived the pandemic but there have been changes.

In 2018, Flint backed off an expansion of Rain Shadow to Pioneer Square.

In 2019, the Liz Dunn-developed Melrose Market was purchased by Regency Centers, the same real estate investment trust that owns the Broadway Market shopping center.

Its tenant and business mix has shifted. There is the Vice Seattle nightclub now holding down the market’s lower level. Rain Shadow’s newest neighbor is the breakfast sandwich chain Eggslut.

Meanwhile, Regency has also kept space for neighborhood projects including the intimate, 2023-born Arabic restaurant, Cafe Suliman.

But making it work for Rain Shadow is apparently not on the table. Flint says about two years ago, he was invited to extend his lease but only given a one or two-year option. Flint says he chose two years and hoped to have time to work out a new deal.

(Image: Melrose Market)

“I’ve tried to leave it up to the universe and allow things to play out. During this time, I’ve looked at many spaces and will continue to do so—either until we find the right new home or until the doors close for the last time,” Flint writes. “As of right now, our last day open in the Melrose Market will be Dec, 23th 2026. For now, we will remain open every day at 10 am – 6am.”

Capitol Hill’s Melrose Ave, meanwhile, is undergoing a full turnover from its burst of 2010-era restaurant and retail activity. The enormous former Starbucks Roastery remains empty after its abrupt 2025 closure and the spot home to neighborhood food and drink centerpiece Mamnoon for 13 years before its 2025 closure is also still in search of a new tenant who can carry the $18,000 a month space.

Costs for a 600-square-foot butcher’s counter, surely a bit more approachable than the Mamnoon space, still add up, Flint said.

“This business has been more of a struggle than a path to prosperity, but we have survived,” he said. “That is entirely because of you—our customers. I also would not be here without the amazing staff who have stood behind the counter over the years.”

Rain Shadow Meats is currently planned to remain open through December at 1531 Melrose Ave. Learn more at rainshadowmeats.com.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support