69 Replies to "NEW SURVEY: Which business(es) do you, or would you, miss?"

• QuickBreakfast June 10, 2016 (10:22 am)

  I miss Zatz…

  • Wes C. Addle June 10, 2016 (3:18 pm)

    That’s what I put too.  Even though I thought they were slow and overpriced. ;) It however filled a niche that hasn’t been replaced.

    • Justme June 10, 2016 (3:52 pm)

      I also put Zatz, and yeah they were slow and overpriced. I miss going there weekend mornings and seeing neighbors, plus it was a good job for HS kids

• anonyme June 10, 2016 (10:35 am)

  Grocery store/other amenities desperately needed at 35th & Roxbury,  Arbor Heights residents got nothin’.  

• weiss June 10, 2016 (10:59 am)

  Such as the Safeway at 28th and Roxbury?

  • Rick June 10, 2016 (11:57 am)

    Waah! Too far.  Waah!   Plus, the water front is too far from my house.  Fix that!  

  • jason June 10, 2016 (12:14 pm)

    Or QFC and Target a few blocks away from there?  Boo hoo.

  • East Coast Cynic June 10, 2016 (11:32 pm)

    I like the White Center Roxbury Safeway much more than I do the Alaska Junction one, even though I live closer to the one in Alaska: The produce is so much fresher and cleaner at the White Center location, it has a wider selection of Asian and Latin food products and the fast Chinese Food is much more freshly prepared and tastes better.

• waikikigirl June 10, 2016 (11:19 am)

  OMG Weiss have you ever gone to that Safeway?! It is always sooooo busy, there is no way you can just run in and get milk or??? without being there at least 20 minutes so I agree with Anonyme totally.

  And it went downhill there for awhile but has gotten better since their “old” manager came back. 

  • Sunuva June 10, 2016 (12:30 pm)

    As another AH resident, I totally agree. I would love to have a grocery store within walking distance, or at least somewhere that I could make quick trips to. Safeway is always very busy and often understaffed at checkout, so a quick trip is usually anything but. QFC is farther, also very busy, the parking lot can be a madhouse, and the buses are always blocking incoming traffic at the bus bulbs. Apparently we in AH don’t get to wish for something better.

    • sw June 10, 2016 (5:13 pm)

      Not trying to be snarky, but didn’t AH residents pretty well know what amenities were in their neighborhood prior to moving there?  It is strictly a residential annex.  

      • Sunuva June 10, 2016 (5:51 pm)

        No, not everybody gets a bunch of time to check out their neighborhood before they move there. I ended up in AH when an unexpected opportunity presented itself and knew nothing about the neighborhood before discovering it as a new resident. I was very quickly surprised at how cut off it is in terms of bus, grocery, delivery, etc. I lived in North Seattle for 15 years before moving here. I love the neighborhood, but would like more services, and am surprised at the negative reaction from people when it’s brought up.

• WM June 10, 2016 (11:53 am)

  So, if these businesses are so “valued,” why do they need (taxpayer-funded) support? This actually seems like it’s creating obstacles to economic development by protecting incumbent businesses. 

• PigeonPoint June 10, 2016 (11:54 am)

  Rocksport!

  • Bored in WS June 13, 2016 (11:52 am)

    This!!! Nightlife in West Seattle has all been a steep downhill from the day Rocksport closed. Here we are coming up on four years later and all we have to show for the new construction that was supposed to usher in a new wave of places to go out… A Lodge Sports Grill that maybe if we’re lucky will stay open later than Elliot Bay (if it ever opens), and a barber shop that serves beer with its overpriced cuts. Color me painfully unenthused.

• Westseattlmom June 10, 2016 (12:09 pm)

  Anyone know what happened to Tavo Del Mar at Westwood. I was planning to grab lunch there today- but is closed, signs gone. Boo

  I also miss Zatz and the Cask that was next door, and wonder why so many restaurants are closing in Admiral? Every time I got to Central Bakery in Burien I beg them to open one in Admiral. It would be a great addition!!

  • WSB June 10, 2016 (12:15 pm)

    WSM – we’ll go look, but are you sure TDM-WWV is closed? Another WSB reader mentioned the sign’s disappearance recently but when we subsequently went over to look – this was a week or two ago – the restaurant was still open, with customers and workers inside.

    • WSB June 10, 2016 (12:29 pm)

      It’s open. People working, people in line, people buying food.

    • Sevenless June 10, 2016 (12:33 pm)

      It’s strange – Yelp lists it as closed and it doesn’t come up on TDM’s website when you search for locations, but they did just have a semi-annual field consultation/education meeting with King County Health on June 6.

      • WSB June 10, 2016 (12:37 pm)

        Yeah, I saw that on Yelp, which is no authority (among our past problems, they stole a photo from us without credit and ignored takedown notices), probably got the same thing we did with people claiming it was closed when it is not. Trust me. Just went there. Contacting the corporation now to (a) let them know they probably want Yelp to correct that claim and (b) ask what is up with the missing sign. – TR

        • Colby June 11, 2016 (4:51 pm)

          The Westwood Village Taco Del Mar isn’t Taco Del Mar anymore. It is now called Baja Burrito. Same kind people workingthere, slightly different menu. 

• Gina June 10, 2016 (12:12 pm)

  Dairy Queen. At 42nd and Admiral.

• Jissy June 10, 2016 (12:28 pm)

  YES, Gina!!!!

• Jissy June 10, 2016 (12:28 pm)

  But really, Grouchos!!

  • Bonnie June 11, 2016 (6:22 pm)

    Yes, miss Grouchos!

• Westseattlmom June 10, 2016 (12:37 pm)

  Oops Taco Del Mar is opened!! Signs gone. Whew

• Gene June 10, 2016 (12:56 pm)

  Oh please- grocery stores are too busy??  Safeway, QFC, Target- all close to 35 th & Roxbury- not to mention a 7-11( I think) & another Mini- Mart right across from each other at 35th & Barton. 

  I live up the hill from Thriftway- which can be crowded at times– would it be great to have the old Safeway back where the U-Haul is -at 35th & Morgan St– so I wouldn’t have to walk so far?? Sure

  There will never be a store that’s 100% convenient( how do you define convenient) for every person/ neighborhood. 

• prayforrain June 10, 2016 (1:01 pm)

  +1 for Zatz  

• anonyme June 10, 2016 (1:18 pm)

  It seems to be automatically assumed that easy access means driving.  Not everyone drives, or wants to.  A truly vital community has shops within walking distance.  While 3 miles of steep hills would have been manageable 10 years ago, it’s no longer an option, not for me, anyway.  Bus service to Arbor Heights is horrible, so even taking the bus to a store is not a reasonable option.  A small grocery store that would be accessible to AH residents is far from being an outrageous or unreasonable request.  I wonder if those who insist it’s “a few blocks” to a store realize that Arbor Heights extends to SW 112th and west to Beach Drive?  Not a few blocks.  Nor do I understand why a simple suggestion on a survey should generate such contentious responses.

  • Alan June 10, 2016 (3:10 pm)

    Beach Drive? Do you mean Marine View Drive? The boundaries are Roxbury to the North, Seola Drive to the South, 30th to the East, and Marine View Drive (more or less) to the West. It drops down to the water from 108th on South.

    In the 1960’s there were plenty of stores that we could walk to. There was one at 35th & Oceanview where the owner always said “and for the governor” when telling us our tax. There is an apartment building there now. There was “Nickle’s” which I believe was the building at 3519 100th. Then there was the store at 4220 SW 100th, which has been the Church of Christ and is now about to be developed. There was also a grocery store where Endolyne Joe’s is now.

    You might not be getting the desired sympathy because a good portion of West Seattle has to go further. I’m in the Riverview area and, while we have a couple of convenience stores, there aren’t any real grocery stores North of Trenton, East of 41st. There was a Food Giant years ago where Home Depot is now. I keep waiting for a grocer to realize how much traffic goes up Delridge. A well placed store on the West side of Delridge could pick up a lot of business from people on their way home.

• rb June 10, 2016 (1:23 pm)

  Key mart on Delridge

• shopper June 10, 2016 (1:33 pm)

  I’m very worried about PCC going away. I’m not a fan of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s is fine for a few things (if I can brave that godawful parking, wish I could walk there but it’s not an option), but I will be really bummed if they go away with that new lot owner. I used to work for the company and I know they don’t always make the best decisions, but there’s a lot of stuff I can’t get anywhere else and losing them in our community would be a real negative.

  • prayforrain June 10, 2016 (5:14 pm)

    Me too.  I included it in the survey.

• clulessinws June 10, 2016 (1:46 pm)

  Guadalajara on California Ave between Morgan and Alaska Junctions.

  • sb June 10, 2016 (4:07 pm)

     And the Guadalajara Restaurant in the Fauntleroy area. It’s gone.

• cjboffoli June 10, 2016 (1:47 pm)

  Unless I’m misunderstanding the intention of this initiative, I think most commenters here have misperceived what is being requested.  Chain supermarkets and bagel shops that serve sweet blueberry bagels (made from frozen bagels that came off a Sysco truck), while convenient, are hardly “valuable cultural assets.”  For instance, I would guess that a unique business like Easy Street would be something that would fit the bill.  It’s an interesting concept as we certainly have a nationwide problem of colorful, unique businesses that are being replaced by homogenized, monolithic brands.  But with that being said, I’m not convinced that municipal government ought to be in the business of using tax dollars to prop up businesses.  Imagine if we still had a blacksmith in the Junction, being supported by taxpayers just because it was historic and charming.  There are probably a dozen other serious  problems I’d like to see remedied with our limited tax dollars before I’d care to see the City Council attempting to use Socialist initiatives to battle the free market. 

  • jason June 10, 2016 (1:52 pm)

    ^^^clearly never had a Zatz bagel.  SMH

  • clulessinws June 10, 2016 (2:03 pm)

    I agree. More capitalism/free market. Less/no socialism. One is on the city council but the country is still a market economy.

  • lala June 10, 2016 (2:40 pm)

    My thoughts exactly! I understood it as asking what we find to be cultural cornerstones of the community. I listed Easy Street.

• Furor Scribendi June 10, 2016 (2:25 pm)

  Ok, to answer the question: Spud Fish ‘n Chips, and Husky Deli; if small local chains qualify, McLendon Hardware – – local and really good; finally, Bartells Drug, which is headquartered right here on the westside. All support local neighborhoods and families, fill niches no one else does as well, and offer great service. 

  • KJ June 10, 2016 (3:12 pm)

    Also, West 5; Russell’s Jewelers; Click Design

• Pixie June 10, 2016 (3:13 pm)

  I would like the Hancock fabric store back. It was the go to stop in the 70s for all home every, and prom dress fabric ( because we made our gowns in my family.) Actually, any fabric store. Also Northwest Art and Frame or other craft supply. 

• Alan June 10, 2016 (3:39 pm)

  I hope people are completing the survey and not just commenting here.

• AMD June 10, 2016 (3:42 pm)

  Maybe I completely mis-read the article…  it sounded to me like they are talking about businesses that are also cultural icons (like Easy Street) that add to the flavor of Seattle.  “Educational and promotional assistance” sounds more to me like listing these places in tourism guides so that visitors don’t just hit the Pike Place Starbucks and think they got to experience real Seattle rather than writing them checks to support their businesses.  

  It’s not in West Seattle, but I do sorely miss the Sit ‘n Spin.  To me, hearing local bands play while doing your laundry and eating some pretty delicious pizza is way more Seattle than Safeway, no matter what street corner it’s on.  Twice Sold Tales is on my list of businesses I think of as iconic and that I fear won’t be with us much longer.

• Beckyjo June 10, 2016 (4:09 pm)

  I miss West Seattle Speedway & Hobby. My Good friend Greg use to work there, and i met Don Smathers there in 1988!

• The Last Capitalist in Seattle June 10, 2016 (4:16 pm)

  This proposal is way to vague to support at this time. I think Herbold needs to come up with a lot more details.

  What exactly would this program actually do? Would the businesses have to permanently preserved? If an owner wants to close a business, would the city take it over? Wouldn’t providing “promotional assistance” to some businesses and not others create an unfair advantage for some businesses over others? Would redevelopment be forbiddnen on these sites? If so, isn’t that an infringement of property rights?

  • WSB June 10, 2016 (4:34 pm)

    Please note that while the survey kind of stands alone, if you’re interested in the ideas beyond it, please click through to her website because there’s more context including taking note of the mayor’s “commercial affordability” initiative, which she writes about (we’ve mentioned it here too, back in April when a Junction entrepreneur was named to the committee) – TR

• Diane June 10, 2016 (4:40 pm)

  are we only allowed to name one in this survey?  I can think of at least 10

• Diane June 10, 2016 (4:56 pm)

  Hullabaloo Books in Admiral junction; economically displaced
  by Amazon

  Small Clothes, displaced by huge development between Hanford
  and Hinds

  Hancock Fabrics, displaced by huge development and many
  years of land lawsuits

  Train shop in the junction

  Historic Italian Borracchini’s bakery; I would go to their half-off-day-old
  bin, still super fresh, olive bread, garlic bread, cheese bread; did they leave
  due to the rent? replaced by excellent but expensive Bakery Nouveau

• CanDo June 10, 2016 (5:18 pm)

  I miss Grace’s clothing…  She had the best clothes!

• A. June 10, 2016 (5:38 pm)

  No. You know what? Hell no! Taxpayer money should NOT be used to promote local businesses based on emotional bias. What a ridiculous idea. 

  • AMD June 10, 2016 (6:24 pm)

    It already is.  Taxpayer money goes to promoting the Space Needle (a privately owned business) and other tourist attractions.  In turn, tourists spend their money here and we get their sales and lodging tax money.  If Seattle is going to be pointing tourists towards businesses anyway, I personally would rather it be small, local businesses that contribute to the city culturally than Starbucks and Hard Rock Cafe-type places, you know?

• West Seattle Hipster June 10, 2016 (5:50 pm)

  Herfys in the Admiral District

• JayDee June 10, 2016 (5:57 pm)

  I find the survey confusing — naming defunct businesses may be comforting but they are not coming back.  This should be forward looking, and by the wording it is not. All businesses evolve over time. Junction Feed and Seed may be nostalgic, but the business model collapsed. Ditto the Burien feed and seed store.

• JayDee June 10, 2016 (6:03 pm)

  Admiral Theatre (Real Estate Value), Circa (change in owners), West 5 (time), Easy Street (Amazon), Husky Deli (how many Miller kids want to replace Dad?)

• Chef Alex June 10, 2016 (6:33 pm)

  I do miss Shoofly Pie!  And I don’t get the big fuss of Zat’s!  Personally I think their bagels, if you can call them that, sucked!!!!  

  • KM June 11, 2016 (7:35 pm)

    When I answered the survey I put “none” but I wish I would have put Shoofly now. That’s truly the only place that has closed in all my years here that I sometimes miss.        

• Gina June 10, 2016 (6:38 pm)

  These comments are not part of the survey, so we can wax nostalgic for a bit.

  Borrachini’s replaced Blake’s Bakery. Bakery Nouveau is an excellent replacement for both at that location.

  Joe Banana’s, little store at Othello and Fauntleroy, concession stand in Lincoln Park by Colman Pool, and J.C. Penney. In White Center I miss the giant Astroland slide.

  Helping small businesses cut through permitting in under a year would be a better focus. 

• Space Dust June 10, 2016 (8:23 pm)

  Jade West, I miss Wah’s cooking.

  Bison Creek Pizza in West Seattle

  Sea galley at West Wood Village 

• MCD June 10, 2016 (8:48 pm)

  my west seattle favorites: Funky Janes, Many Moons, Husky Deli and Sunfish on Alki. Really, west seattle would not be the same without my favorite places. Another one- coffee to a tea! where else could you go to get coffee and read, meet a friend for lunch or glass of wine, AND have a kids birthday party?

• MellyMel June 10, 2016 (9:20 pm)

  Glad this discussion oriented me a bit before doing the survey. I agree that “iconic” WS businesses that I hope would get a hand before they foundered would be

  1. Admiral Theater
  2. Easy Street
  3. Spud Fish ‘n Chips
  4. Husky Deli

  There are other types of businesses that would be nice to have close/returned, but these are ones that are landmarks for me.

• Rick June 10, 2016 (9:30 pm)

  Embrace gentrification!  I’ve  only lived here 47 years and know what money and greed does in the guise of being progressive but my sadness is due to the loss of character.  Pseudo “being local” is shallow at best.  We need a “local” Walmart.

• Keith June 11, 2016 (10:30 am)

  In West Seattle, I mostly miss the original incarnation of the Admiral Benbow Room, and I would greatly miss West 5, Easy Street, Husky Deli and the Admiral Theatre. I wish I could say I miss the original Luna Park — how cool that must’ve been to have an amusement park and natatorium on Alki!

  In Seattle, I mostly miss Sorry Charlie’s on lower Queen Anne, and would greatly miss Re-Bar — can’t even imagine where so many Seattle theatre/nightlife institutions will go when Re-Bar gets the wrecking ball, which seems like any day now based on all the new construction surrounding it.

• flimflam June 11, 2016 (10:54 am)

   ” In my first week as a Councilmember, a District 1 resident brought me the idea of a Seattle Legacy Business Program, modeled after a successful San Francisco effort”

   so is the city’s new philosophy “copy SF’s playbook”? see the Times article gushing over SF’s “radical hospitality”? 

    

• Allison O. June 11, 2016 (8:03 pm)

  Charlie’s Buns n Stuff. They had delicious cheesesteaks. We have a million Mexican and pho places, but none of these.

• Ows June 12, 2016 (3:42 am)

  The corner Inn

  ..they still owe me a new liver, zeeks doesn’t deserve to have their old footprint, why does it stay with their horrible overpriced product, West seatlites really need to learn what good pizza is because it’s hard to find on thus side of the bridge

• j June 12, 2016 (9:55 am)

  sw you may be a Johnny Come Lately so you don’t know the history of the area. A lot of us are long term residents. We had the grocery where Endolyne Joe’s is, Nicol’s Market on 100th and Safeway at 35th and Roxbury. 

  The Safeway corporation shut down the Arbor Heights and White Center stores and opened in the site they are in now on Roxbury. When selling the property at 35th and Roxbury the Safeway Corporation attached to the deed of the property that the site can never be used as a grocery store, gas station, or pharmacy as long as Safeway operates within a 50 mile radius. Thus making one of the only commercial sites in AH useless. How many residents do you figure had a chance to even comment on the sale or even know to this day? A company from Vermont was able to dictate the dynamics of our neighborhood and go against what Seattle  is preaching to have “livable walkable” city. I’m guessing the White Center deed had the same stipulations. 

  I think what kills me the most is the lack of support and understanding from members in our community. Baffling. 

  We get in our car and go to the store and Safeway is not one of them. 

• anonyme June 12, 2016 (10:27 am)

  j – well said.

  Alan – I meant to say Marine View Dr. – my bad.  But asking for some kind of amenity in Arbor Heights does not quite equate with asking for  “sympathy”.  Nor is such a request a contest to see who has to walk/travel the farthest to access a store.  Everyone is free to advocate for their own neighborhood.

  A long time ago I lived on top of Queen Anne, and there was a corner store on Galer called ‘Olson’s Market’ that was exactly (I think) what many of us would like to see.  It wasn’t a convenience store per se, but a small grocery store run by cantankerous old Mr. Olson himself.  There was another iconic grocery store on the now upscale corner of QA Ave & Boston called S&M Market (they sold a lot of t-shirts due to the name).  There were open crates of fresh produce out on the sidewalk, and it had an old general store kind of vibe. 

  I realize this may sound like simple longing for the good ol’ days, but in reality, this is a model that I think would be very successful in an area like West Seattle that is fairly anti-chain, anti-corporate, and small business friendly.  The old Nicol’s Market location would be awesome…

  • Alan June 13, 2016 (11:26 pm)

    Anonyme, I don’t disagree with the desire. I have also lived where I could walk to the store every day to get the ingredients for dinner and there is something very enjoyable about that. It is impossible for those small stores to compete with the big boys on prices and that is likely why those three stores that were in Arbor Heights and the one in Fauntleroy all went away over the years. People popping in for milk and kids coming in for candy or ice cream just doesn’t cut it.

    The population density has increased dramatically in the Delridge area since the Food Giant shut down, yet we continue to be without a grocery store. It seems unlikely but, like those in Arbor Heights, a person can dream.

    BTW – I remember the S&M Market. People would travel there just because of the name!

    http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-bet-you-didnt-know/Content?oid=4046

Sorry, comment time is over.