Editor’s note: MyEverettNews.com is working to introduce our readers to more independent business owners here in Everett, Washington. We want to highlight their businesses, tell their stories and invite you to shop locally and help move Everett, Washington forward. If you know of a business we should feature, send us a suggestion via email: news@myeverettnews.com. Leland Dart – Publisher
Joe Sievers is a fourth-generation business owner in Everett, Washington.
The leasing office is the original lunchroom from the lumber business that began in 1901.
In 2022 Everett Mayor’s Art Award winner Ruben Trujillo researched and then painted this mural depicting the history of the company.
This week I had the chance to speak with Joe Sievers, one of the owners of Everett Downtown Storage which opened in 1987.
His story goes back a lot further though, as he’s a fourth generation owner of the H.O. Seiffert Company which dates back to Everett in the late 1890s.
“Four brothers from Iowa came to Everett and started a shingle business,” Joe explained when we talked this week. “Together they purchased the property at 2320 Hewitt and in 1901 began to develop a large retail and wholesale lumber business eventually becoming a Home Center long before Eagle and then Lowes.”
In the 1970s and 80s the company turned its focus from lumber to real estate and in 1987 opened Everett Downtown Storage.
In 2007 the company purchased a former beer distribution warehouse at 3615 McDougall Avenue and after some major remodeling opened that location in 2008.
Ten years ago in October 2013, the U.S. Small Business Administration named them the Washington State Family-Owned Small Business of the Year.
Joe Sievers is an Everett guy. His Grandpa Roy played end on the Everett High Football team that won the National Championship in 1920 and his father grew up in the little house where Lew’s BBQ operates at Pacific and Fulton.
Joe says a major focus right now for the family-owned business is to plan for the future and set up for the fifth generation. “My brother Pat ran the company for 20 years,” Joe said. “I took his place and a succession plan is important to me as I don’t have any kids.”
Community is also important to Joe and the entire Sievers family. They’re big supporters of the Everett Boys and Girls Club and with the locations on Hewitt and McDougall are also heavily involved in the Everett Station District Alliance and improving the area where their businesses exist.
They also are sponsors of community events like the 3 on 3 basketball tourney in downtown Everett. “We sponsored the skills challenge this year and it was incredible,” Joe said with a smile.
Joe’s family legacy is also on display on the east side of Everett Downtown Storage in the form of a mural painted in 2022 by Everett Artist Ruben Trujillo (@ruben.the.artist).
To learn more about Everett Downtown Storage check out their website here or give them a call at (425) 259-1506.
October 7, 2023
Everett Economy, Meet the Owner