BIZNOTES: Pizza and booze

Two reader tips we checked out:

PAPA MURPHY’S: We checked out a tip from Thomas, who said all seemed normal when he was last at the Jefferson Square store, but today he found it closed and saw “people moving stuff out.” No one was there when we went over to check, but the door had a lockbox and the website labels this location “temporarily unavailable.” The chain was sold earlier this year, but stores are run by franchisees. The newest online list of available outlets shows an “existing” Seattle opportunity but doesn’t get any more specific. We’ll check with corporate HQ tomorrow. (Added Thursday: They never replied. But even the sign is gone now.)

WESTWOOD VILLAGE LIQUOR STORE: Hard to tell how long this store’s been closed, but Jim is the first to mention it to us; he emailed after noticing the store shuttered.

No signage indicating its status, but a peek through the windows shows empty shelves, and the phone disconnected.

Also John July 28, 2019 (8:36 pm)

Papa Murphy’s closure surprises me. The place was busy the half dozen times I was there.

Junctioneer July 28, 2019 (8:55 pm)

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy, no wonder they gave my building a TON of free pizza cards only valid for this location.

Barb July 28, 2019 (10:17 pm)

Nooooooooo

Mike July 28, 2019 (10:52 pm)

No, not Papa Murphy’s!

Erithan July 29, 2019 (12:57 am)

Noooo! They had some of the best pizza around! :( I’ve been going there forever was always busy.

East Coast Cynic July 29, 2019 (7:04 am)

IMO, there’s much better pizza to be had than Papa Murphy’s in the West Seattle/White Center area–drive an extra mile or so to Proletariat Pizza–This east coaster highly recommends it.

TK July 29, 2019 (8:11 am)

Agreed Proletariat is Waaay better, but also more expensive. Sometimes you just need cheap.
Conjunction Junction July 29, 2019 (9:28 am)

And sometimes you just want to bake a pizza in your own oven. We probably ate PM every month, this is a total bummer. Had noticed more turn over than usual. Proletariat and other restaurants serve a completely different type of need and cost. And they are 4 miles apart, which on the Westside is a 15-20 minute drive.
Maria July 29, 2019 (1:58 pm)

Yeah, comparing apples to oranges so to speak. Proletariat and other pizza restaurants are an occasional splurge for us. We like Zekes, Mio Posto, etc.. Papa’s (or even frozen pizza) serves an economical purpose and allows us to make that occasional splurge. Hmmm, sounds like we should eat less pizza.

just wondering July 29, 2019 (7:52 am)

Interesting! I got an email coupon today from Papa Murphy’s for BOGO pizza!

Steve Shepard July 29, 2019 (8:06 am)

West Seattle liquor store at Westwood Village closed abruptly on Saturday July 6 at 8PM. Rumor has it that the manager got a much better job and the ‘owner’ apparently threatened that he would close the store if she left. He left two others with no jobs despite the fact that the store was operating in the black. Vindictive behavior?

cid July 29, 2019 (8:15 am)

Well that explains why I couldn’t order yesterday on line or by phone. How disappointing!

PizzaRat July 29, 2019 (8:56 am)

I feel bad for the franchisee who invested in Papa Johns only to have the founder & Trump supporter, John Schnatter make a racist comment on a conference call with investors (used the n word) last year and bring a lot of unwanted attention to a struggling company. Trump is like a toxic x-ray illuminating the true nature of nasty folks like Schnatter. I bet he doesn’t even give a thought to regular folks who are losing everything in these failing businesses.

WSB July 29, 2019 (3:53 pm)

Please note, this is about Papa MURPHY’S, no relation to Papa JOHN’S. PM is owned by a Canadian company. Don’t know anything about their politics.

Lola July 29, 2019 (9:18 am)

Have loved having Papa Murphy’s in WS. We ordered a pizza a few weeks ago from one of our Better Pizza Places to have Doordash Deliver it. After an hour and still no Pizza, we called and they said well you will have to take it up with Doordash. After we figured our that the guy had run off with our Pizza and got a refund my husband dashed up to Papa Murphy’s and got a pizza to bake. Will miss them as it was our go to Pizza spot.

Goddess Andraste July 29, 2019 (10:00 am)

There was a big moving van and a man loading boxes into it in front of the liquor store last Thursday when my mom and I dropped into Staples. Didn’t think anything of it, though I commented jokingly that he must be having a heck of a party that weekend.

rb July 29, 2019 (10:51 am)

It feels like Westwood Village is becoming a desert. Unresponsive management and high costs of rent are taking a toll on what could become a jem.

We stride informant August 1, 2019 (6:25 pm)

The mall will only rent to national chains moving forward. Any potential tenant has to show that they can cover the entire rent for 10 years at the time of lease signing. Not pay it but have it in the bank in additon to their other start up costs.That would be a few hundred thousand dollars in most cases. That eliminates most small biz and lots of medium biz. It’s always less work and more profitable to have an empty unit for years rather than deal with a delinquent or needy tenant. Keep in mind the landlords get a cut of a tenant’s sales as well…not a thought to the community. That would not be good business. Shop small. Avoid all publicly traded companies and set the world free.