OUR BACKDROP ...
“THERE’S A STORY BEHIND EVERY DOOR”
History is very much important at The Factory Luxe. Why? Because it’s everywhere in our building! Being located in the Old Rainier Brewery is such an honor and we love being part of the history of this amazing historical landmark! Sharing a few details about it means a lot to us so the story of this symbol of Seattle can be carried out over time.
THE MOUNTAIN ROOM – OUR HOME
The Factory Luxe occupies Rainier’s original brew pub called the Mountain Room and reopened to the public in June 2019 with live music, comedy, improv, and dance. In doing so, we have reclaimed a piece of Seattle history for the public by providing them a place to hear local and emerging bands and other performances geared to smaller audiences. With 80 band rehearsal spaces and several recording studios in the Rainier Brewery Building, we have become the place for local bands and talent in the building, as well as in the city, to dive into live performance.
The Factory Luxe Mission is to support local and emerging artists by providing a space to showcase their talent via music, comedy, improv, and even visual arts to the public. Our goal is to be the “music community center” in the Historic Rainier Brewery Building, home to dozens of band rehearsal rooms and several recording studios besides The Factory Luxe. We provide a space for music video shoots, live streams, record release parties, as well as a venue for public performances. We have had all genres of music perform on our stage, from young up and coming rap artists and new bands to 70’s Classic Rock cover bands and reunions for Punk bands of the 80’s to monthly Friday Jazz Nights and the occasional comedy fest.
THE OLD RAINIER BREWERY – OUR BUILDING
It all started in the 1880’s when Andrew Hemrich, freshly arrived to Seattle from Wisconsin where his German family owned a brewery, and acquired land below Beacon Hill by a freshwater spring. Just South of Seattle’s business core in the day, the original brewery was built and had a breathtaking view on Elliott Bay.
In 1893, Rainier Beer as we know it was launched as a brand of the original brewery, the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company.
During the prohibition (1916-1933), several different types of nonalcoholic products were produced in the factory while beer production moved to California, hoping the prohibition would never be national…which eventually happened a few years later. Then they had to move the beer production another time and ended up in Canada!
Once all this was over, the production came back to its original location in Seattle. The Brewery continued to grow and many new features were added to the historic building over the years including the Mountain Room, Rainier’s Brew Pub and Event Center which opened in 1950.
Finally, in 1999 the Rainier Brewery Company move its production to Irwindale, CA, after being sold and the Old Rainier Brewery building was given away to Tully’s Coffee in 2000 becoming their headquarters. Then, the iconic red neon “R” that sat atop the building since 1953 was replaced, with Tully’s green “T”, much to Seattle natives’ chagrin. The original “R” is now on display at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI).
We bet you are wondering what is the “R” currently sitting atop the building? Well, the answer is Tully’s “T” was removed in 2013 and replaced by a red neon REPLICA of Rainier’s “R”, put back where it belongs!
What is in the Old Rainier Brewery building today? It is now the home of small businesses like The Factory Luxe, 80 band practice spaces, multiple recording studios catering to a variety of genres, Little Red Day Spa, Casual IND. Clothing Co., Old Habits Barbershop & a thriving community of creatives, artists & small business owners.