Prism

This is a great place to shop for yourself or buy gifts. You will find a great assortment of jewelry, clothes, gift, and housewares — a lot of it by local artists! And all displayed in a beautiful setting. This is a fun place to explore and get inspired. And maybe decide to upgrade your style ;)

Love this store, their selections are great! I bought a ring here last year & have worn it often & get compliments all the time. A unique assortment of items that I love to sort through

I really like Prism! They have a lovely curated collection of goods, and I think it’s a perfect place to hit for Christmas presents! I have gone in on my way to the gym and I have never experienced any snobbery, just some sweet gals willing to help me out! It’s fun to browse, and while some items are pricier, they are also great quality and worth the splurge if it’s just what you’re looking for. They also have inexpensive nic nacs and patches that are great!

If there were a museum of Northwest 60’s and 70’s psychedelia, Prism would be the gift shop. Locally made raw gemstone jewelry, elegant geometric shapes in necklaces and bracelets, leather and pony hair necklaces? Yes and for less than a hundred bucks! Space-​y art and in house screen printed luxury fibers/​sweatshirts/​baby clothes? All of these.
Where a lesser store might then verge into patchouli and peace signs, Prism’s psychedelic allegiance is more Lewis Carroll, not the Grateful Dead. So you’ll find kaleidoscope glasses, silver lame make up bags, tarot, incredible earthy housewares with strange faces and actual gold playing cards. The mix of earthy art objects, occultism and absurdist bling doesn’t seem like it should work, but it’s persuasive as can be — I have a wish list!
Other reviewers! Exchanges only is a standard policy in boutiques. I don’t feel like Prism’s staff is snotty at all — they do choose not to pipe in music, which made me feel weirdly awkward there for a reason I couldn’t place until I noticed the quiet. You have to ask for help — because the stuff is so lovingly selected, you’ll get a lot of it.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. Best spot for jewelry, clothing and housewares! There’s no better shop in Seattle.

Really cool store with a great selection of clothes and gifts.
Really nice to see a great store in the area again.

Favorite store in the Ballard area! Interesting, cool, weird, beautiful. Great jewelry!

Snobby sales associate & Bad business policies.
I shopped at Prism on a Saturday and the woman with dark short hair was kind and helpful.
I had a decent experience buying and purchased a large number of things. It wasn’t the best customer service experience and they didn’t have a large selection but it was the following day when I needed to return one of the many things I purchased the previous day and it was an awful experience.
The blonde snobby female employee was fine to me until she realized I needed to return an item, at that point she switched and just kept repeating the same line over and over no matter what I said or asked «It’s our policy, we don’t do returns, we only do exchanges.» I asked many different questions and she just enjoyed being snobby with the same line and wouldn’t have a conversation.
I’m a HUGE fan of small businesses, so I want them all to succeed, like Prism, but when your snobby staff represents poor business decisions like «no returns, only exchanges» then you deserve to shut down because that is how you kill repeat customers. Nothing I purchased was on sale so it wasn’t because it was a final sale item.
I hope they lose repeat customers so they can make some better choices. And get some nicer people to work there :)

This store is the definition of perfect. Simplicity and beauty all in one store that supports the local Seattle community and the people who live and work within it. High quality and reasonably priced for what you’re buying.

I enjoy looking around Prism but always wish there were more to see. I’ve been in twice over the last 4 months. The shop is sparsely laid out in a clean, modern, minimalist layout (which I actually really like), but my complaint here is that there wasn’t a lot of merchandise turnover between my visits. If I’m in the neighborhood I will definitely check it out again, but because of the slow turnover this is not a shop that I’m unlikely to drive out of the way to go visit.
I do like the theme and the selection, and the jewelry (my main attraction) is definitely reasonably priced and well curated. Clothing is more low-​key casual than I would wear, especially for the price point. Their non-​clothing items (including geometric planters, golden playing cards, notecards) are all cute and match the geometric inspiration of the shop name.
Both times I found the staff to be pleasant and non-obtrusive…made the gallery like setting and browsing experience that much better.

I walked into Prism and felt like Christmas hadn’t ended yet. This was in part because they were burning that cone-​shaped kind of incense, and it smelled so wonderful. It was also because everything in there was like a little gift, offered up simply and earnestly.
It’s kind of like an art gallery in Prism. Everything is very spare and clean. Each object has its own space and it seems tenderly set there. And if you want your home to look like you are constantly glamping («glamorous camping»), Prism can help.
I ended up with a pack of gold playing cards and a necklace made of multicolored quartz crystal. I also wanted a unique tarot card deck and a bunch of other things, but I held back because I was feeling poor. My boyfriend was looking for some last-​minute holiday cards and he found some very nice typography-​type options.
A sweet little store. The only person working there had a calm and kind demeanor; she was more than happy to answer any questions I had.

I had such an unpleasant experience I had to get on here and warn others. I went into the store and purchased a last minute item. Cute little store, lots of nice items that fit in with the Ballard neighborhood. When I ended up not needing the shirt I bought, I immediately went to return it.
The customer service was the worst service I can recall. She informed me they will only do exchanges. As I explained no one made that clear when I purchased the item, she stated that was MY fault for not asking. In hindsight, I could have asked, but there are no signs or information explaining such an exchange policy, which is a more common practice if you do not accept returns. She also informed me no one had ever tried to return something there, it’s just me. The condescending and impolite customer service really became my problem, more than the exchange policy.
As a small boutique, I’d think you would want to encourage local shoppers to come back and become loyal patrons of your store. This not only discouraged me, but made me want to spread the word of such a bad experience.

Prism is a lean, cleanly-​designed art and fashion retailer on Ballard’s main drag. Everything about it screams contemporary, from the spare fixtures to the simplicity of the displays, everything lined up, neatly, in straight little rows like the schoolgirls in the Austrian children’s novel «Madeline.»
Prism calls itself a «retail and art experience,» selling art, clothing, jewelry, accessories and boots. A friend of mine scored a gorgeous pair of ankle-​high rocker boots for a song, so cheap we had to double check the price. I saw several things I hadn’t seen before in Ballard, which is hard to do in a neighborhood inundated with innovative retail.
Why then do I only give it 3 stars? The service, plain and simple. No greeting when we entered, short, curt answers to our questions, hardly looking up as we milled around the store, the sales associate’s face glued to his tablet.
I get it. You’re cool, the shop is cool, everything you sell is cool. Why not be friendly? I want to buy things in my neighborhood, I want to keep it local and support my neighborhood businesses but I also like to shop where I feel welcomed and appreciated.
If you can sort out this part of the shopping experience then you have the capacity to be great.