(WSB photos)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
In two weeks, Tom Sweeney will end a 48-year career, closing one of West Seattle’s last two framing shops.
It’s not because of lack of business, or increased rent, or any of the frequently cited business-closure reasons. The proprietor of U-Frame-It says simply, “I’m tired.”
We talked to Tom in his shop at Jefferson Square, where he’s been for 10 years, after 20 years on California SW, in a storefront lost to redevelopment. We found out about his retirement plan from readers who heard it from him face-to-face; he hasn’t made an announcement via email, or social media, as he says he doesn’t use a computer or cell phone – “I’m an old Luddite,” he laughs, displaying a sheaf of handwritten business records when we ask how many customers he’s served over the decades.
How did he happen into framing as a career? Tom says he was a cross-country driver, just back from eight months on the road, when he walked into a shop to see about framing some photos he had taken. They happened to be hiring, no experience required. Tom said he’d “had enough” of life on the road – so he decided to give it a try, and started November 1, 1975. “They were having so much fun.”
And so was he, until a few years ago. Until the pandemic, Tom says, “this wasn’t work” – and then business intensified, with so many more people spending so much more time at home. He was overwhelmed; his turnaround time increased, from one week to two months. (The shop name U-Frame-It might imply self-serve, but Tom says that business line ended a while back. He doesn’t have employees, either, though he says he did until The Great Recession in the ’00s.)
Even with the steady business, Tom says, “Nobody wants to buy stores.” Nobody much wants to buy his equipment, even; he’s sold one item to a downtown business, but the rest, he expects, will end up “in my garage.” He realizes that “being a shopkeeper is an old-fashioned thing.” And he’s an old-fashioned framer, “doing it the same way I have since I started.”
Not that long ago, he says, West Seattle had seven framing shops. After U-Frame-It closes, only Northwest Art and Frame will remain. He’s already sending people there; though May 31st is his planned last day, he’s already turning away new business (someone opened the door while we were in the shop talking with him, and he offered regrets and redirection).
Since he isn’t making a formal announcement, we asked if he has parting words: “West Seattle’s been incredibly kind to me … I’ve met people (and am) doing their children’s framing now. The clients have been nothing but gracious and kind to me. I’m going to miss them … I’m very grateful.”
So what’s Tom planning to do in retirement? “Sleep, and work in my yard. I’ve been ignoring my yard for 30 years.”
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