West Seattle biznote: The Sneakery closing in The Junction, staying in Ballard

Thanks to Dave for the tip that a “for lease” sign is now up in the window of The Sneakery at 4736 California SW in The Junction.

We checked in with proprietor Drea via e-mail; here’s what she told us:

The Sneakery will be leaving West Seattle at the end of April and consolidating things back to our original location on 65th Street in Ballard, where we’ve been since 2006. We had a great time in the Junction over the last 4 years and would like to thank our customers for their support. Most merchandise will be deeply discounted through the end of April, so we encourage everyone to use their gift certificates and coupons. Although we are sad to leave the Junction, we are also thrilled to be growing our business in Ballard, where we will be able to offer our customers even better selections and service.

The Sneakery’s West Seattle location opened in May 2011. Half of its side of the block has been a construction zone for the past year and a half.

sam-c March 17, 2015 (4:00 pm)

Bummer :(
Sad to see you go. We’ve gotten some good shoes there.

quiz March 17, 2015 (4:00 pm)

Well that’s a backhanded West Seattle compliment if I’ve ever heard one.

HelperMonkey March 17, 2015 (4:14 pm)

NOOOOOOOOOO! We always called it The Sockery because it is the best place to buy fun socks. Super bummed they’re closing, and extremely unlikely I’ll ever go to the Ballard location. :( At least I can get my sock fix thru April. Sorry to hear you’re leaving, Sockery/Sneakery!

justme March 17, 2015 (4:26 pm)

I’m sad to see you guys go. Socks make such a perfect gift for everyone on my list.

villagegreen March 17, 2015 (4:27 pm)

West Seattle not the new Ballard, apparently. Return to your porch rockers and resume whittling.

sam-c March 17, 2015 (4:40 pm)

Quiz ? huh? sorry, should I have said ‘We’ve gotten some good sneakers there?’ Or are you referring to Ballardization?

Peter March 17, 2015 (5:31 pm)

Bummer. It was nice to have a local source for sneakers while it lasted. Their selection had gotten stale of late, though. They weren’t bringing in anything new.

CanDo March 17, 2015 (5:46 pm)

Dang… Loved their socks. Many of my relatives are wearing their socks.

Rebecca March 17, 2015 (7:16 pm)

thunder road perhaps?

WSMama March 17, 2015 (7:31 pm)

I’m so sad! My daughter got her first pair of sneakers there! And almost every pair she’s worn since then.

The large construction zone and closed sidewalk diverted a lot of foot traffic from that block and probably cost them significant business. Yet another reason to hate these giant, expensive apartment developments rapidly taking over West Seattle. They congest streets, drive rents sky high, and choke out all the businesses whose access is diminished during construction.

Nw mama March 17, 2015 (7:31 pm)

Sad to see them go! Great store. Can help but think poorer sales r/t the construction immediately north of them has impacted their Decision.

h March 17, 2015 (7:40 pm)

Ugh.

West Seattle Hipster March 17, 2015 (7:41 pm)

Great idea by Rebecca, is there enough room for Thunder Road there?

Trickycoolj March 17, 2015 (8:58 pm)

Too bad. Wish they would have been open the last two times I went. Not open until noon, closed at 5pm it’s like they didn’t want customers. When they were open I liked getting baby shoes for my friends who were expecting. Good thing my eye doctor is across the street from the original location.

cj March 17, 2015 (9:21 pm)

They had cool socks I wish them well.

Jeanie March 17, 2015 (9:46 pm)

Nw Mama, exactly my sentiments. We are not against “progress” (heaven forbid!), but specifically against the mega-buildings that drive up rents, increase car congestion, block out the rare Seattle sunlight, and uglify our neighborhoods.

Wsg March 17, 2015 (10:47 pm)

Nw mama and Jeanie as a business owner in the junction, before some of start blaming apartments- Ballard has way more density/apartments right now than we do here and much higher retail rents so I wonder why they staying there?!?! I can tell you we are currently looking at a place there and even though it’s way higher in rents the density and foot traffic may make up for it. We don’t have enough especially during the day.

Matt S. March 17, 2015 (11:35 pm)

@villagegreen: You win best comment on this one!

junctioneer March 18, 2015 (8:01 am)

Sad to see business leave, but I found it really hard to “support local businesses” by paying significantly more what I could pay for shoes online–and with that in-store purchase comes a non-existent return policy.

km March 18, 2015 (8:30 am)

Sad. I always wanted to support that store more – great service and kind people – but I could never get the size I needed in the styles I wanted. That has to be a huge challenge for small shoe stores. Like many others though, I did enjoy their socks.

heather March 18, 2015 (8:44 am)

Not enough mid day foot traffic in WS…
Hmmm. I wonder if WS is a high “online consumer” area and if so what kind of “in person” businesses do we want in our shopping areas? Activity based retail (play and buy), smaller store front services? And clearly more employers in WS would be great too. It’d be interesting to hear peoples ideas for what kind of shops you’d like in your neighborhood. Personally, WS has always felt like a European shop square to me – a quality bakery, paper/home/hardware specialties… wouldn’t an outdoor xmas market be awesome? And I’d like really small street front retail spaces to get some crafts people (small retail front / create space in back) here – small like a letter press artisian, a custom felt shoppe, etc. A small windowed street front presence and a decent work space in the rear make it possible for a business to have both a street and an online presence.

miws March 18, 2015 (9:57 am)

Maybe if the former laundromat, now (still?) smokeshop skinny spot a few doors down becomes available, The Sneakery could come back with a West Seattle Sock Annex. ;-)

Mike

Sue March 18, 2015 (11:47 am)

I’ve only been in there twice, and both times I was the only person in there. So I can’t say I’m surprised. The merchandise is cute, but was not my style to actually purchase anything. I’m glad they’re not going out of business, but consolidating to their other location.

Sue March 18, 2015 (11:56 am)

Heather, for the most part, the shops that are in the Junction area pretty much fit my needs, and I don’t find myself lacking for much. I do shop a lot online, I what I buy online tends to be niche stuff I can’t find in local stores, or that is too heavy to drag home.
.
Living in the Junction, if I got to pick a few dream business for that general area, I’d love to see a diner (not just breakfast/lunch like Easy Street, but all day and into the evening, like Charlestown Cafe used to be), a place similar to Storables/Container Store, office supplies and a vegan bakery. Those are the 4 businesses that I drive to go to.

Sneaker Joe March 19, 2015 (11:01 am)

I loved the idea of a shoe store here, and the people who worked there were a delight. But this was a very poorly run conceive business. They had terrible selection. Even for a store with a narrow focus on retro sneakers, which I love by the way, they made very poor inventory choices. Limited brand selection and models. Pity West Seattle runner already relocated. It would be nice to have a great athletic goods store in the Junction.

tickingtimebags March 22, 2015 (10:30 pm)

Late to the party here but I was in the Sneakery today and overheard the girl at the counter telling a customer that the space would, in fact, be taken over by Thunder Road.