New West Seattle business: Emerald Water Anglers in The Junction

The newest mixed-use building to open in West Seattle has its first retail tenant: Emerald Water Anglers is expecting to open by the end of this week at the southeast corner of 42nd/Oregon, ground floor of Oregon 42. EWA, founded in 1999, describes itself as Seattle’s only full-service fly-fishing outfitter, with guide services as well as retail gear sales (including Patagonia). Here’s another reason to visit their store:

Artist Chris Haberman is painting a mural inside the store today. He says it’s meant to tell the story of the fly-fishing waterways of the Northwest. Haberman is based in Portland; this is his 35th mural, first one in Seattle. Meantime, we’ll update when we hear which day Emerald Water Anglers plans to open the Junction store.

JanS June 23, 2014 (2:23 pm)

not a fisherman (woman) of any kind here….but what a cool mural !

Jason June 23, 2014 (2:51 pm)

Cool mural, the papyrus font on the sign on the other hand… ;) Welcome to the neighborhood.

WSB June 23, 2014 (2:53 pm)

That’s just a temporary banner. They were expecting to have signage up today but it was delayed a bit. (Though I don’t know if the font will be any different, we’ll see!)

Person June 23, 2014 (3:36 pm)

Great idea as I keep saying fly fishing is going to be my next big hobby!

Nancy Smith June 23, 2014 (4:08 pm)

The store is looking fabulous! Can’t wait to see it open. Congrats!

West Seattle since 1979 June 23, 2014 (5:35 pm)

Welcome to West Seattle!

Searun Cutthroat June 23, 2014 (5:49 pm)

There are a bunch of fly fishers in W. Seattle. Making a go of it in a fly shop is tough business in these days of Cabela’s and other online stores, so I’ll definitely give them some business. I just hope they don’t hand out maps to some of the area’s best fishing, though other shops have already done just that. Shhhhhhhhhhh!

Gary Sears June 23, 2014 (6:02 pm)

Great store. Love to visit it.

Jason June 23, 2014 (6:55 pm)

@WSB – I’m just goofing – I walked by there the other day on the way to Trader Joe’s and saw the banner, I’m a font elitist which means I obviously have some kind of mental condition haha.

Mike June 23, 2014 (6:59 pm)

Right on!

rdf June 23, 2014 (7:14 pm)

I don’t fish but I like that it is different than anything else in West Seattle. I wish them luck.

ZS June 23, 2014 (7:53 pm)

Great to see the best guides in the Pacific NW open a shop. All fly fishermen and women should make this a must-stop on their way to fish Lincoln Park and other area beaches. Best of luck Dave and crew!

Laconique June 23, 2014 (9:10 pm)

Well that’s… niche. I’ll be fascinated to see if they can stay in business. Best of luck!

steve June 23, 2014 (9:22 pm)

love the idea of a fishing store. that being said, whoever owns it is doing it solely for love of fishing and or want of a new hobby, as there is no way in heck a fly fishing shop can make enough $$$ to pay rent on a corner spot in a brand new building.

WSB June 23, 2014 (9:35 pm)

Please note if you missed it in the story and didn’t browse the website, this is a well-established company that has been in business since 1999 and books and leads expeditions/travel, among other things. They also have a branch in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It’s not just somebody taking a gamble on opening a shop.

Matt B June 23, 2014 (10:29 pm)

Excited to have them in the hood! Hope they stock lots of great tying materials. See ya there EWA!

Jason June 23, 2014 (10:37 pm)

Looking forward to baby gap and fashion bug showing up under one of these new buildings soon.
.
Any word on what the owner is doing with the old Terrible Beauty by the way? Or anyone know who owns/manages that property?

WSB June 23, 2014 (10:53 pm)

No update yet – nothing in permit records, liquor licenses, etc. …. The building is owned by longtime Junction entrepreneur Leon Capelouto, according to public records. Re: Fashion Bug, it used to have a Westwood Village store, where Carter’s is now (preceded by liquor, preceded by Dress Barn …).

steve June 23, 2014 (10:57 pm)

@WSJ Ah established fly shop. Great. Its still a gamble.

Corner unit on a street with no appreciable walk in traffic. Brand new building. Its why the tenants in these new building areas banks or nationwide chains.

No way they are going to be in the black on a regular basis, unless they got a sweet deal on the space.

The rivers they guide are north, east, and to the west of west seattle. Doesn’t make sense to drive to West Seattle if your fishing the Kalama.

Anyways I’m glad its not a bank… but they employees are going to be pretty bored.

Perhaps business will pick up during next year’s pink season…. but fly fishing for pinks isn’t really in the spirit of fly fishing. Will they succumb and sell pink buzz bombs and squid rigs?

Good luck

WSB June 23, 2014 (11:39 pm)

Steve, I know zip about fishing but I do, after years of reporting about local development, tend to see areas like this in kind of an augmented-reality view, re: everything that’s in the works. People are on the way. Ostensibly that’ll change the foot traffic situation. New developments are on the way to the other side of the street, and at least one remains queued up for the same side of the street as this, plus two smaller multi-family projects to replace single-family houses immediately east.
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Anyway, going back through the archives, a side note – The building was originally approved 5+ years ago with much more retail space – about 20,000 square feet. That was cut down to about 3,000 total by the time the project got moving again after a few years of idleness. I didn’t get the square feet on this shop but records indicating that in turn was broken into two spaces, and one is still listed for lease.

Jason June 23, 2014 (11:37 pm)

Ah thanks @WSB I didn’t realized Leon owned that building, maybe I’ll swing up to his office and ask whats going on – with all these new units going up maybe I’m ready to start a failing bar on a cursed corner :D

Jason June 24, 2014 (12:03 am)

I have a feeling they’ll sell more puffy patagonia vests there than G Loomis rods.

Matt B June 24, 2014 (6:54 am)

Hey cynical Steve: fly shops are destinations for fly fishers. Walk ins can help but they make their nut based on service to repeat customers. Also, I, and many other WS fly fishers wailed on pinks with flies, fly rods, and fly lines all last summer. Thanks anyway for a weak attempt to define the spirit of fly fishing…for yourself? Anyway, welcome EWA! I’ll see you soon.

miws June 24, 2014 (7:47 am)

Oh for god’s sake! The Doomsday Prognosticators are at it again; “This Fly Fishing Shop won’t make it, because of their location.” “This Restaurant won’t make it, because it’s a jinxed location, and they do/don’t allow kids!”

I’m not a Fly Fisher, but welcome Emerald Water Anglers to West Seattle.

Mike

HotCoffee June 24, 2014 (9:34 am)

Echoing Matt’s comments to Steve … lots of fisherpeople in West Seattle and we don’t go far for our best fishing – the Sound is the most amazing fishery around! Searun cutthroat trout on dry flies 8-10 months of the year? Let the gear chuckers beat each other up chasing mealy pinks. You’ll find me elsewhere and happy that EWA is here on the Peninsula to help. Welcome, welcome!

Tony June 24, 2014 (2:32 pm)

I think it would really be awesome of they had at least a small selection of terminal tackle and supplies for us saltwater salmon fishermen. I’d love to be able to pick up some swivels/hooks/downriger gear right here without crossing the bridge ! Maybe a small bait freezer !!!

Kate June 24, 2014 (5:44 pm)

Sigh, SO SAD that all that gorgeous, sun-filled, “perfect for a patio” space will go unused.

No offense to the fishermen but besides Pecado & Shadowland (practically the street) patios are few and far between up here.

I thought the newer developments would take heed of that but guess not.

Would love to have a Lil’ Woody’s or Lunchbox Lab. burger spot around. When the spouse and I are craving a good burger in The Junction, we always scratch our heads…

Why do you hate $20 burgers? June 24, 2014 (6:52 pm)

Kate–you mean you don’t care for the pricey burgers at Shadowland, Jak’s and Mano? All tasty to be sure, but come on…

Dang, now I want an overpriced burger…

ws fisher June 24, 2014 (7:34 pm)

The genderless term for fisherman is fishers, not fisherpeople.

denny hinton June 25, 2014 (8:20 am)

Dave McCoy is well-known and well-respected in the fly fishing community. Hurray for Dave and hurray for West Seattle. Tight lines!

Lori Hinton June 25, 2014 (11:38 am)

So excited to welcome Emerald Water Anglers to the best ‘hood in the city. Now, I officially have no reason at all to leave West Seattle. Well, except to go fishing beyond my home waters :) Best of luck to you Dave, you know I’ll be coming by soon!

Steve Rohrbach June 26, 2014 (3:46 pm)

I have known Dave McCoy for years and he is well respected in the fly fishing business. I have already driven from Wallingford to visit the store and it will be a regular destination for my fly fishing needs. West Seattle is lucky to have attracted what will be a world class establishment.

Dave McCoy June 29, 2014 (11:14 am)

Sorry everyone and thank you for the supportive words. Here is a brief calendar of what is coming:

Final fire and build inspections early Monday AM

Tuesday signs are installed

Monday – Wednesday, inventory moves in with all the fixtures

Thursday we open and look forward to meeting everyone. This will also be a Patagonia lifestyle store so fly angler or not, please pop in and say hello and check out the mural, it is pretty sweet. Painted by Chris Haberman.

Reid Curry July 3, 2014 (10:43 am)

Well, here we are WSB readers, it is Thursday morning, and in the words of our new friend Dave that just stopped by the store “things take longer than they do”. We are working our fastest but it does not look like we will be able to fully open today as promised. Our apologies and our immense appreciation for your patience West Seattle!

THAT BEING SAID, we are here at the store all day today and have all inventory ready to go. Come on by, say hello, check out the mural, and let us help you with any of your last minute needs for your outdoor or fly fishing adventures this holiday weekend.

Thank you again West Seattle for your patience, we look forward to having you in the store. We will comment back when we are ready to officially open…only days away. Happy 4th of July!!!

Reid Curry

Retail Manager
Emerald Water Anglers

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