EVERETT — A cohort of downtown Everett businesses is looking to bring a boost to the city’s nightlife through a marketing initiative and a new series of monthly events.
Under the name Late Shift Everett, the group of over nearly a dozen businesses are joining forces to organize “First Friday” events and spread the word about late-night activities taking place in the city’s downtown core.
The first “First Friday” is scheduled for Oct. 3. Businesses taking part include APEX Everett, Apollo Exos, Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria, the Horseshoe Bar, the Lucky Dime, Vision Quest Bookstore, The Monte Showbar, Tony V’s Garage, Marcel and Obsidian Beer Hall, according to the Late Shift website.
“I think this came about due to a collaborative environment amongst new businesses and entrepreneurs that were starting to see the bigger picture and wanted to extend their efforts beyond their four walls, to work together and really kind of rise the tides so we could have an established nightlife,” said Ryan Crowther, the head of the Everett Music Initiative, a nonprofit that helped organize the Late Shift initiative.
Bringing the businesses together will allow them to pool resources to create a product beyond their individual events and offerings, he said.
“Our commitment is really around keeping that events calendar as full as we possibly can with as diverse of options as we can possibly find in downtown Everett,” Crowther said.
The city itself has also partnered with local businesses as part of the initiative. Everett plans to make improvements to lighting, trees, wayfinding and pedestrian safety in the downtown area — centered around Hewitt Avenue and surrounding corridors — as part of the Late Shift initiative, in addition to getting ready for upcoming World Cup events scheduled to take place in Everett next year.
“We’re working hard to leverage both the Late Shift initiative and the World Cup as catalysts for a downtown ‘glow up,’” wrote Tyler Chism, Everett’s placemaking manager. “I am excited to build momentum around nightlife, making sure young people, artists, musicians, and night owls all know that Everett rules — and that downtown is for them.”
Further specifics on what exactly those infrastructure improvements will look like, and how they will be funded, are set to be announced in early 2026, Chism said.
Jonny Elia, the operations director at Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria in Everett, said late-night business in the city’s downtown core had dropped off since the COVID-19 pandemic. But a recent outcropping of new businesses open into later hours of the night, partnered with a goal of working collaboratively with one another, led to a push to remind residents that Everett’s nightlife scene is here to stay, Elia said.
“I’m excited to see it come alive,” he said. “I want to see people on the streets again, seeing the community going from business to business, enjoying what each one has to offer, and just getting a little more action and livelihood downtown.”
As part of the “First Friday” event on Oct. 3, Brooklyn Bros. will hold a late-night happy hour between 8 p.m. and midnight, offering a new menu available only during “First Friday” nights.
Other events taking place include DJ sets at venues like The Horseshoe and The Monte Showbar, a Deftones album listening party at Apollo Exos and live performances at APEX Everett, The Lucky Dime and Tony V’s Garage, among others.
More information: lateshifteverett.com.