3:55 PM: The radar was right! No rain as the businesses of The Admiral District host West Seattle kids for trick-or-treating. Just come on over to California and Admiral and the surrounding area – west to 44th, east to 41st, and north/south for a ways.

Get treats, and tell your friendly local businesspeople “thanks”! Or, in the case of those handing out treats at Brookdale, your friendly local residents:

It’s on until 6 pm.

4:18 PM: Above are the ladies of Admiral Bird, where we’re based while doing some as-it-happens updating. Below, the space shuttle landed in the pumpkin patch of the Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) costume contest, concurrent with trick or treating:

We’ve also seen a Blue Angel, 10 months early!

Continuing with the aviation theme:

And … Teletubbies?

More costumed proprietors … Parris and Kent Sadow at Atomic Boys:

Under the really big hat, that’s Dr. Keith McDonald at A Kids Place Too Dentistry for Children (WSB sponsor):

Eek! Alki Bike and Board is haunted!

4:46 PM: We found The Incredibles!

So – you think West Seattle traffic is bad on the streets? Check out the sidewalk near-miss:

Excellent Halloween soundtrack at The Bird, by the way. “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” “Thriller,” “Somebody’s Watching Me,” more. And a bit further south on California, it wouldn’t be Halloween without the Wiseman’s Appliance freezer – portrayed by Molly:

More later.

P.S. Lots more Halloween Eve fun to follow – including the nearby Hiawatha Community Center Carnival, 6:30-8:30 pm – check out the WSB West Seattle Halloween Guide.

Big takeover just announced: Walgreens is buying Rite-Aid for $9.4 billion. Walgreens has two West Seattle stores, in High Point (35th/Morgan) and South Delridge (15th/Roxbury); Rite-Aid has two stores in WS too, south of The Junction (California/Hudson) and at Westwood Village (25th/Barton). The official news release says that Rite-Aid will continue operating as a subsidiary of Walgreens, “initially” under the Rite-Aid name, so there’s no indication of closures/consolidations at this point. The aforementioned stores represent four of West Seattle’s six standalone chain drugstores right now – the other two, in Admiral and The Junction, belong to Bartell Drugs, which is headquartered in West Seattle – and a seventh is on the way, the CVS store to be built at 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW.

Three West Seattle biznotes this afternoon:

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY, COPPER COIN: The Admiral eatery is celebrating its third anniversary, and manager Gregg Graham e-mailed to say they’re planning specials all day tomorrow, including:

*A tasty, special one-off ‘Copper IPA,’ brewed for the occasion by Lowercase, and offered at 1/2 price all day Wed.!

*The debut of a new slew of awesome artisan sandwiches, served up on our fresh house ciabatta baked at the Coastline bakery and also offered 1/2 price all day Wed!

Copper Coin is at 2329 California SW.

WINGSTOP MOVING AHEAD: Almost three months after Eats Market Café moved out of Westwood Village, citing lease loss, there’s movement in the plan for Wingstop to move into that space. City files now show an application to proceed with “tenant improvements” for the chicken-wing franchise restaurant.

JUNIPER TO EX-PICA: Almost seven months after the abrupt closure of Pica in The Junction – also described as a lease-loss situation – a new tenant is about to open in that space at 4155 California SW:

That sign in the window announces Juniper, A Natural Nail Bar. No website yet, but via Facebook, Juniper says, “We are proud to be the first nontoxic nail bar in West Seattle!” and mentions a November 4th opening date.

A first-of-its-kind event is happening next Wednesday at West Seattle Office Junction (WSB sponsor): It’s an orientation/networking meetup for the Women’s Business Incubator, described as “a nonprofit business center for women starting locally focused businesses and for local women business leaders, with the goal to offer micro-loans, nurture leaders, connect with mentors, training and business services for women-led small business owners, professional office space, business services and start-up assistance; as well as quality drop-in child-care services for infants thru pre-K.” Those services are available for the 7-8:30 pm Wednesday (October 28th) meeting, if you need to bring along one or two children, plus there’s a small admission charge; see the ticket options here and sign up ASAP. The Office Junction is at 6040 California SW.

(Annie’s Nannies founder Annie Davis with daughter & partner Suzanne Royer McCone)

Congratulations to Annie Davis, founder of West Seattle-based Annie’s Nannies (WSB sponsor), for a big honor. Here’s the announcement:

The Association of Premier Nanny Agencies, a national non-profit that helps set the bar for safe professional service in the nanny industry, has bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award to Seattle’s Annie Davis, founder of Annie’s Nannies, Incorporated.

“I started my business in 1984. In the last 31 years, my staff has done a wonderful job helping thousands of our families find a nanny for their children. These women make me so proud and happy,” says Davis. “They offer integrity and compassion in finding a nanny the perfect position and the family the perfect nanny. My staff deserves this award and I will be sharing it with them, as well as a nice bottle of champagne!”

The Northwest’s longest-serving household staffing agency, Annie’s Nannies, Incorporated provides child care/family assistants, elder companions and other personal employees. ANI is a 2009 Mayor’s Small Business Award winner and the first Seattle small business to pay a $15 minimum wage.

Annie’s Nannies moved its headquarters from Ballard to West Seattle almost exactly a year ago.

Thanks for the texted photos! As previewed here last week, the house on California SW immediately north of West Seattle Nursery (California SW & SW Brandon) is coming down today to make way for the nursery’s expansion. We’re told many parts of the house were salvaged before teardown; there was hope of giving the house away to someone to move a new site, but no taker. The new addition, designed by LD Arch Design and built by Ventana Construction (both West Seattle businesses and WSB sponsors), is expected to be done by spring.

The day is ending more cheerfully than it began for Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) proprietors John and Frances Smersh. The shop’s 11th anniversary party is on, until 8 pm as planned, despite the overnight burglary (one of two local businesses hit, as reported here). And despite the fact the burglars even made off with the champagne. That was easily replaceable, as pointed out on the Click! Instagram account. So stop by to shop and sip.

Along with treats, you’ll also find deals, as noted in their website announcement about the event – written five days ago; it points out that #11 is the steel anniversary, and: “… steel is a strong material, but not unyielding, moving both to the forces of nature and of women and men. The celebration of eleven years in business has its roots in both strength and flexibility.” Along with words of thanks, that item also notes this marks five years since Click! moved from a cozy Admiral space to the spacious storefront at 4540 California SW in The Junction.

Three more biznotes to share:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, TOUCHTECH SYSTEMS: Brian Presser, proprietor of TouchTech Systems in the breezeway at 4517 California SW, sends word that this week marks his eighth anniversary in West Seattle. The business itself has been around even longer: “The technology has changed since we opened our doors in 1994, but our commitment to you hasn’t. Our job is to take the guesswork out of technology so we can outfit your home or business with the hardware, software and peripherals that meet your budget and exceed your expectations.” They serve clients of all types, from home to commercial.

CURVES FOLLOWUP: Our Friday biznotes mentioned the Curves West Seattle location at 3280 California SW had emptied out. Today its former owners contacted us to share this message:

After 13 years, Curves of West Seattle closed last week. We actively searched for a buyer for several months but were not successful. We both live in Olympia now and the commute finally took its toll.

We thank our hundreds of members who have been part of the Curves journey. You are amazing women! White Center Curves is open for those interested. We wish all health and happiness.

Sincerely,
Denise Hanson
Stuart Meadows

THUNDER ROADS CLOSED TOMORROW: From Frank Gross, proprietor of Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor) in The Junction:

We will be closed tomorrow, Sunday, October 4th, as we will be attending the Sea-Tac Vintage Guitar Show (with a large portion of our inventory). We will re-open Tuesday at 10 am.

TRG is at 4736 California SW.

Fridays just lend themselves to roundups. Notes from and about local businesses:

(Photo courtesy Parliament Tavern)

PARLIAMENT TAVERN OFFICIALLY OPEN: After a few weeks in “soft open” mode, the new establishment at 4210 SW Admiral Way is now officially open, proprietor Tom Langen tells WSB. 21+, full bar with 17 beers on draft that “will lean heavily on the great stuff brewed locally,” plus “a smallish menu featuring fancy grilled cheese sandwiches that will hopefully knock socks off!” Live music “from time to time” (first show October 10th), DJs some nights (tonight: “WS legend Kingblind”), and Tuesday quiz nights starting October 13th. By the way, if you didn’t know (we must confess we didn’t), the name has nothing to do with government … but rather, their mascots (above). Tom explains, “A group of owls is called a parliament, like a gaggle of geese, murder of crows, etc.. The idea for this spot is a neighborhood evening hangout, for night owls if you will. The one great thing about this old, old space is the high ceilings and the dark-stained fir panels on the upper half of the walls that give it a woodsy feel. Tried to bring that out with paint and light, and threw in a bunch of owls hanging around to give it a ‘thing’. They are most certainly fascinating creatures, beautiful, mysterious, and everyone has a reaction to them in some way. Almost always positive!” Hours: 4 pm to 2a m weekdays, 12 pm to 2 am weekends.

ADMIRAL BIRD’S NEW MENU: Steps from the Parliament, Admiral Bird at California & Admiral has just launched a new menu “focusing on waffles,” per the announcement: “We have three varieties: Belgian, gluten-free Sweet Potato, and a vegan GF Cornbread batter. We are now a Waffle Bar, keeping all of our popular breakfast sandwiches and taking our weekend waffles to a daily availability.” See the menu for more details.

ENDOLYNE JOE’S NEW MENU: Last weekend for the Cuban “festival menu” at Endolyne Joe’s, which will debut the “Little Italy/Providence, RI” menu on Wednesday. These special menus are in addition to their year-round specialties. (9261 45th SW; WSB sponsor)

CURVES CLOSED: Noticed while driving by that the Curves West Seattle storefront at 3280 California SW is closed. We’d heard from its owner some weeks back that it was for sale. No signage indicating what’s next.

MONEYTREE CLOSING: The short-term-loan business’s branch at 4000 SW Alaska in The Junction is closing. We found out through this this commercial real-estate listing, saying Moneytree was closing the location “due to regulatory changes.” Checking the company website, the West Seattle location’s page says it’s “moving” on October 10th – to Burien. “Only 20 minutes away!” says the flyer.

Another independent local West Seattle business is celebrating an anniversary: Today marks five years since West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor) opened! Co-proprietors Chris Christensen (left), Todd Ainsworth (right), and staff took a quick break for an anniversary photo and are sharing this message: “It’s hard to believe it went by that fast! We wanted to say thanks to all of our customers and the local businesses that we’ve forged relationships with over the years. We can’t be happier that we can live and work in West Seattle and be a part of the community!” West Seattle Autoworks is at 7501 35th SW, corner of SW Webster.

Happy second anniversary to Second Gear Sports (WSB sponsor) in Morgan Junction! The shop invites you to help celebrate by shopping a big sale this Saturday and Sunday (October 3-4): “We get so much support from our community that this year we are doing something really special … a HUGE ‘GARAGE SALE’ with hundreds of items up to 50% off (plus a few ‘give us your best offer’ items).” Coffee and doughnuts for shoppers. Never been to Second Gear Sports? As explained here, it’s “dedicated to providing the community with high-quality, discounted sports and recreational gear, and offering customers an outlet to reduce, reuse, and recycle their gently used sporting goods.” SGS is open 10 am-6 pm on Saturday and 11 am-5 pm Sunday at 6529 California SW. P.S. Check out the new wall of Seahawks gear! (Above, WSB photo from August: Second Gear Sports proprietor Mark Bremen)

Following up on two recent charity events in which Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate (WSB sponsor) was involved in helping community members give in a big way:

FOOD DRIVE TOTAL: Two weeks ago, as shown here, BHHSNW was at West Seattle Thriftway (also a WSB sponsor) to collect food for the West Seattle Food Bank Backpack Program, making sure kids in need don’t go hungry on weekends, when they can’t access school meals. Managing broker Don Bereiter shared the photo and tells WSB, “It was amazing to see how generous the folks are in West Seattle. Over 2,500 pounds of food and hundreds of dollars in cash were accumulated for those in need.”

HELPING ‘SUNSHINE KIDS’: Last weekend, BHHS NW presented its annual golf tournament to raise money for The Sunshine Kids, long one of its spotlight nonprofits, which helps brighten the lives of kids fighting cancer. A variety of donations related to the tournament (including sponsors, WSB among them) totaled $8,437; Bereiter says that plus proceeds from a benefit breakfast hosted by BHHS NW’s Kent office will total more than $10,000 to be presented to The Sunshine Kids at an event this week.

SIDE NOTE: If you’re thinking about a career in real estate, BHHS NW has one of its periodic Career Day events coming up three weeks from today, 10:30-11:30 am October 17th at its Jefferson Square offices, 4700 42nd Ave. SW, Suite 600. Find out more here.

5:29 PM: For more than a day now, according to two reports we’ve received, at least one squirrel has been inside Terjung’s House of Gifts in The Junction, visible through the window. The two people who’ve mentioned it – including the one who just texted the photo – say they couldn’t figure out any way to track down the store’s owners, even via neighboring business owners. So we’re publishing this in hopes maybe someone who reads it will know and be able to alert them (or will have some other idea of what to do).

5:47 PM: Thanks to Wendy, who says in comments: “I just called them & they are aware. They tried to catch him this morning, then put a catch/release trap in the store and plan to check on it after dinner.”