80 Replies to "GENERAL STRIKE ON FRIDAY: West Seattle business closures"

• john June 11, 2020 (1:24 pm)

  Will Easy Street be open?

  • Colby June 11, 2020 (11:45 pm)

    No, they announced they will also be closed. 

• ken June 11, 2020 (1:28 pm)

  Does anyone know if a silent march has been set up in West Seattle?

  • Gina June 12, 2020 (11:05 am)

    There is! https://westseattleblog.com/2020/06/protests-2-today-in-west-seattle-during-general-strike/

• Chris K June 11, 2020 (1:40 pm)

  I will absolutely be giving my money to any business that closes tomorrow.  I would love to see a list of those not participating in the strike, so I know who to boycott.

  • West S lady June 11, 2020 (3:28 pm)

    Please keep in mind that many businesses are just finally able to open. They have been paying bills and rent for 3 months with no income. Let’s be compassionate as you don’t know these peoples circumstances and hardships. 

  • Will June 11, 2020 (4:07 pm)

    Boycott?  Relax chris and try not to be so simple and rigid.  The point of all of the protest has been quite successfully heard, globally.  Continuing to tar and feather and cause endless economic damage will do nothing but diminish the message.  Should we do this forever or help cause actual change? Enough. 

    • Ryan June 12, 2020 (7:55 am)

      It will not be successful until we see actual change. The whole point of these protests is to keep the attention going until change happens. I am one of the WA workers who has been let down by unemployment. No money means we cannot support local businesses anyway. All these problems need fixing now. 

  • christopher ryan June 11, 2020 (4:26 pm)

    Relax Chris K. some people & businesses need to pay the bills …. stick to the protest not the local businesses 

  • Persia Saffaie June 11, 2020 (7:49 pm)

    You shouldn’t boycott any local business for staying open. We are also in the middle of a pandemic where local businesses have already taken such a hard hit, and restaurants staying open will be providing to-go food for those who are high-risk for COVID-19 and for hungry strikers. 

    • Megan Garcia June 11, 2020 (8:11 pm)

      Hey Chris, There are some businesses that are going to be open tomorrow, but donating a portion of their profits. 

  • Chris K June 12, 2020 (7:30 am)

    I’m a little surprised and disappointed at the reactions to my comment.  This is the time for everyone to take a stand against racism, even if it means missing out on a day’s worth of money.  Silence equals consent to the status quo.  We are better than this, West Seattle.

    • Wsresident June 12, 2020 (9:35 am)

      Chris, I’m assuming you’ve been gainfully employed during this pandemic? Have you even considered that there are people who have missed out on 3 months worth of income, and can’t put food on their families table? You sound quite privileged, and I’m glad that you are in a position to just “miss a days work” please stand for those of us who are going to lose everything, including health insurance and housing, if we keep missing a days work.

      • Chris K June 12, 2020 (5:47 pm)

        You are right.  I was probably going a little overboard.  I did have reduced hours at work, but it was something my family could easily handle.  It’s easy to lose perspective sometimes.  This really is a great community, and I apologize for being a jerk about this.

    • Peter June 12, 2020 (3:40 pm)

      Chris, have some compassion for your fellow Washingtonians. Everyone’s circumstances are different, esp. in the midst of a pandemic. As a person of color, I know people are doing whatever they can to express support the movement. Boycotts are the last thing are local businesses need right now. 

      • Chris K June 12, 2020 (5:49 pm)

        Noted, Peter.  I have had some time to reflect and I was too harsh.  I have decided not to boycott anyone in my community.

  • Do what you can June 12, 2020 (8:05 am)

    I respect your personal right to choose where you spend your money, and appreciate your passion.

    To everyone freaking out about Chris’s comment, relax. BLM is not calling for any boycotting. If individuals feel this way, that is their right to choose where they patronize. You have your choices too.

    I won’t be boycotting businesses not closing today, but I am taking notice of who is participating, and appreciate their action and show of support.

  • Patience June 12, 2020 (12:30 pm)

    Per BLM S-KC:   “Don’t go to work. Don’t work from home”.  – no where does it say to shame (boycott) those that choose to go to work OR work from home

• Mok4315 June 11, 2020 (2:08 pm)

  Also just saw Corina put up a FB post about closing the Beebop Waffle Shop (formerly Admiral Bird) tomorrow due to the strike. 

  • Chris June 11, 2020 (3:04 pm)

    I LOVE YOU!!!

• Higginshere June 11, 2020 (2:40 pm)

  Although a well-intentioned symbol of support, I don’t see the direct benefit to the Black Lives Matter movement when our local businesses shut for a day, and I don’t see why non-participants should be boycotted as if they are doing wrong by keeping their businesses open.  By that logic, everyone who has a job should not show up. At least that would be a fairer arrangement than targeting the people who have been hard-hit by the pandemic.We don’t know the challenges that our merchants and their families are going through.With so much economic devastation, I would rather see stores donate profits or a portion of profits to charities and agencies that benefit BLM. I would definitely leave the house for that opportunity.

  Let’s be loving, thoughtful, purposeful, and constructive in how we show support.

  • Tim June 11, 2020 (3:20 pm)

    There are many examples of this type of boycott being very effective at promoting change. It was a successful strategy in other civil rights struggles. Too bad you find it inconvenient.

    • Higginshere June 11, 2020 (4:00 pm)

      Did I said, “inconvenient?  I wasn’t going shopping anyway.No, I said it is  unfair to merchants who are not part of the police state and do not deserve this targeting.  Show me your moral courage, Tim, by donating your salary for the day to a worthy cause.

    • Patience June 12, 2020 (12:36 pm)

      Hey Tim, per BLM S-KC:   “Don’t go to work. Don’t work from home”.  – no where does it say to shame (boycott) those that choose to go to work OR work from home

  • Vic June 11, 2020 (3:50 pm)

    I hear you, know that many businesses have donated their funds and time to the Black Lives Matter movement. What I got from the page promoting the silent mark/general strike was: to give folks who may not have been already doing so, time to thoughtfully write their council members, state senators etc and focus their activism where they are able. If some one is unable to participate, it’s not a call to judgment in my opinion, but a hopeful call to those who can support to do so <3

    • Will June 11, 2020 (4:09 pm)

      Thank you Vic. Thoughtful sensible comment. 

    • Higginshere June 11, 2020 (4:22 pm)

      Meanwhile, Amazon rolls along uninterrupted while we punish our merchant neighbors, brothers and sisters for contributing to making WS part of the reason we live here.

      • David June 11, 2020 (10:54 pm)

        Bullseye. The mega-corporations who are running America won’t give a crap if we shut down local businesses – if anything, they’ll be glad.

        What we need is a long-term general BOYCOTT of corporations. Local businesses, please stay open: We need somewhere to buy the things we’ve been getting from Amazon and other corporations that sometimes now openly tell politicians how to run the govt. (Especially Inslee and Durkan.)

  • Marcus June 11, 2020 (4:20 pm)

    I agree–the people this strike punishes are those who most need the money right now. Why subject the businesses to a trial by fire?

  • WS2000 June 11, 2020 (6:04 pm)

         One of the things I’ve tried to absorb deeply over the past 2 weeks is that as a white person I shouldn’t be the one making suggestions to the black community about how to achieve change.  If BLM-KC has called for a general strike because they think it will be effective, my role is to show up and support them, and I appreciate any West Seattle (or non-WS) business that does the same.  I could see where that might affect my spending decisions, though not always. If I’m choosing between two pizza places, I suspect I am more likely to support the one who shares my values.

    • ally cat June 11, 2020 (7:49 pm)

      Well said

    • zark00 June 12, 2020 (11:41 am)

      Respectfully disagree – it’s not only your place, it is your obligation, as a white person to make suggestions, take notes, open a dialogue, whatever you can do to move the needle forward.  White people made this mess, and white people are required to dismantle it and build it back as something better.  We all have to do this together or it simply will not get done.   You can participate, and make suggestions, and even have a differing opinion while remaining respectful.  If white people just say ‘eh, it’s your problem, I shouldn’t help’ they are actually hurting not helping.  

      • ally cat June 12, 2020 (5:00 pm)

        ‘If white people just say ‘eh, it’s your problem, I shouldn’t help’ 

        That is not how I interpret their comment.

        I believe they are suggesting white people listen more and control less. Respect black voices and leaders, allow their voices to rise, and be willing to show up to support their ideas and calls to action, without trying to dominate, control, or shift the conversation based on their own needs and feelings of inconvenience.

        Please, stop telling black people and allies their response to injustice and inequity is incorrect. Listen more, speak up in supportive ways, stop the complaining and suggestions for how their efforts could be less inconvenient for you.

  • Eric Moon June 11, 2020 (7:23 pm)

    This is literally what a general strike means. My coworkers have been enthusiastically supportive of my joining in (they live in other states). I will be reading “The End Of Policing” and joining the silent march in the CD.

  • Billie June 12, 2020 (10:14 am)

    Closing for the day is as much solidarity for the workers as well as BLM because it means no one will have to miss work in order to participate. I hope they are going to pay people who’s shifts got canceled.  

• AT June 11, 2020 (3:25 pm)

  Bakery Nouveau will be closing all 3 shops at noon tomorrow.

  • WSB June 11, 2020 (3:28 pm)

    Thank you, and thanks to everyone continuing to email additions, too.

• AT June 11, 2020 (3:56 pm)

  Alair closed per Instagram – oh you got it, did you get Il Nido? also per IG.

  • WSB June 11, 2020 (3:58 pm)

    Didn’t have Il Nido. Thanks.

• savoirfaire June 11, 2020 (4:07 pm)

  I don’t see anything in BLM’s call to action that suggests people boycott businesses that don’t close. I trust them to have put a great deal of thought into both what they are and what they aren’t asking for as support.

  • Patience June 12, 2020 (12:38 pm)

    Thanks for pointing this out Savoirfaire –  per BLM S-KC:   “Don’t go to work. Don’t work from home”.  – no where does it say to shame (boycott) those that choose to go to work OR work from home

• SS June 11, 2020 (4:11 pm)

  Mashiko closed per insta/fb

• Jo June 11, 2020 (4:31 pm)

  Maybe instead of boycotting businesses, make a pact that you don’t spend any money tomorrow, thereby taking part in the general strike. 

  • Vic June 12, 2020 (9:33 am)

    This is what we will be doing.

• JenV June 11, 2020 (5:04 pm)

  Will there be a silent march in West Seattle?

  • WSB June 11, 2020 (6:27 pm)

    No one’s sent us word of one yet. Only thing we’ve heard of so far is the 2 pm Sunday march from High Point CC.

• Kellie June 11, 2020 (5:46 pm)

  Bishops in the junction will also be closed. 

• Open June 11, 2020 (5:56 pm)

  I think it is super harsh (as a business owner) to boycott any small merchant business to remain open.  It’s super easy for those who have been making money throughout this stay at home order to “say” they aren’t going to work, but no one really knows because they hide behind their computer and quietly do their job.  I, for one, haven’t been able to receive any financial assistance and haven’t been able to navigate the unemployment due to it being inundated and then stolen from.  Does this mean I don’t care about the cause?  No.  Do my employees need money?  Yes.  Us local businesses have continually donated to schools, auctions…you name it.  Closing for the day would cost me a ton and I’m barely holding on as it is.  I’ve already lost my other business due to the stay at home order.  Why do local businesses (those that make West Seattle unique) need to close?  Why can’t we protest while still providing a service that benefits this community?  It is an absolute shame that people would boycott a business over this.  Quite frankly, if someone boycott’s my business because I remain open, well, we just aren’t a good fit.  My regular customers who I know and love, and who have been generous to me and my staff, will understand and support us.  If someone feels so strongly about this and wants to shame and punish a hard working, tax paying, community giving establishment, then good for you, and how lucky you are to have the ability to pay your bills and not worry about losing everything you put your heart and soul into.  I can still support the cause and still support my staff (who also support the cause), and have another day of sales to help chip away my enormous debt.  Each business has their own right to close or not, and I WILL not judge either.  I just know that my business is a place where people get happiness and laughter and good food for the soul.  My customers would be bummed to not have the ability to see other regulars and employees that give them a welcome reprieve from all the sadness and uncertainty of these times.  So- if you pass a business that is open, don’t think that we don’t care.  We do, which is also why I’ll be open.  Yes, the movement is important, and I will support while continuing to serve the public.

  • AMB June 11, 2020 (7:12 pm)

    Well said, Open. Completely agree, and you have captured the spirit of this movement and our community. 

  • CM June 11, 2020 (10:00 pm)

    Very well said, and completely agree! 

  • andy June 12, 2020 (8:44 am)

    I totally agree with you.

  • Paul June 12, 2020 (12:14 pm)

    Very well said and I completely agree.  

  • Peter June 12, 2020 (3:43 pm)

    Brilliantly stated — thank you.

• Pamela June 11, 2020 (6:16 pm)

  I would be sad to see marchers walking with Starbucks coffee or merchandise from other large corporations who won’t be closing to support the cause, while the core of a community, mom and pop businesses, who are pushing through the pandemic to keep their employees working, supporting their suppliers by staying open and providing services and meals to the community will again stand tall and support their community.  

• aa June 11, 2020 (6:30 pm)

  I don’t get it.  and that’s ok.  What I have been thinking about the past few weeks is what I can do within my own heart and mind.  Where do my prejudices and assumptions come into play and how can I call myself on them.   

• Craig June 11, 2020 (6:32 pm)

  I fully support BLM, but shuttering local small businesses is not smart and won’t results in any changes of perceptions or choking of funding to those that do. It only further damages business and related ripple economies. As mentioned Amazon will be open, other alternatives will be open (haircuts, coffee, etc) so the general response will be for the shopper to redirect their money to chain stores. Personally I don’t see the result of this being anything but self harming. In a non COVID world this might have made more sense, or pre protest world, but we’re not in that so my singular personal opinion as a supporter of BLM is this is a bad move and self harming the people that need economic support the most to keep their voices high and loud. 

  • HowItWorks June 12, 2020 (11:37 am)

    Craig,Just so that you’re clear with yourself:  If you are not supporting the strike, you can not say “I fully support BLM.”  BLM has asked for your support, and you are saying no. It’s fully your choice to decide whether or not to support the strike – just recognize that not supporting it means not supporting BLM.

• Dunno June 11, 2020 (8:33 pm)

  You really want to make a difference.  Volunteer at one of our minority schools as a tutor.   You can volunteer in so many other ways as well to help our minority population.  Donate your extra cash to minority scholarships and after school programs.   Become a big brother, sister, or a mentor.  Me, a white male who has volunteered for 10 years plus.  It  will open your eyes!  As the saying goes, action talks, bs takes a walk.

  • Just wondering June 12, 2020 (7:08 am)

    My husband and I give to Donors Choose, an organization that helps teachers in low income area schools get supplies they need.  We have helped buy brand new books, gathering carpets, art supplies, seeds for a garden and book shelves.  The one that stays in my memory is the teacher who asked for pencils.

  • Sarah June 12, 2020 (8:43 am)

    Yes!! This!!! 

• T June 11, 2020 (8:58 pm)

  Wow, one person says boycott and suddenly a number of people think that this was what was called for. Vic had the perfect reply.  Please read the entire BLM Seattle-King County call for action before jumping to conclusions. Participate in any way that you are able to if you want change.  

• Smittytheclown June 11, 2020 (9:18 pm)

  Classic cancel culture at work. “Close or be shamed!”   Good lord. 

• Open June 11, 2020 (10:38 pm)

  T- you are correct.  Vic had a great point.  It is unfortunate that there are lists of businesses who are shown to be closing and comments saying those being open should be boycotted, and comments excitedly informing which businesses will be closed.  A neighbor business owner came to me and asked if I was closing and I was “What?  Why?  He then told me about the protest and I was informed only then… he has been very involved with all the protests (personally and actively), but was torn because of the financial repercussions of closing down…and the optics if he didn’t.  THIS is what my original post was about.  Yes- Vic reminded us of the protest and the effect that it will have (and the push for those that “feasibly can” and the understanding for those that can’t).  But the comments that ensued after, with the boycotting etc., reiterated the conundrum that us business owners are in.  That is what I was trying to point out.

• David June 11, 2020 (11:11 pm)

  Does anyone notice that no mega-corporations are closing?
  And that small local businesses have zero say in how Durkan runs the police, let alone how Inslee runs the state or Trump runs the country?
  If you want to change anything, leave the people who are easy to push around but have no power alone.
  Go after the ones who give the politicians their orders, and boycott Amazon. Wal-Mart. And so on. You won’t believe how quickly things will change when they see it hurting their profits.

  • Vic June 12, 2020 (4:22 pm)

    I think folks are encouraged to spend no money today, big or small business. That’s what my family is doing. I would support an extended boycott on Amazon as well, Bezos has been too quiet with his opinions and his check book for too long IMO.

• strikerws June 11, 2020 (11:13 pm)

  BIPOC owned Seattle Yarn on California Ave will be closed tomorrow – per their Facebook post:  “In solidarity with Black Lives Matter Seattle-King Co.’s call for a general strike and silent march, we will be closed tomorrow, Friday, June 12.”

• Danielle June 12, 2020 (1:52 am)

  Zeek’s will be closed!

• sf June 12, 2020 (7:03 am)

  Seattle Dive Tours (on Admiral Way) will be closed per Instagram 

• Mallory June 12, 2020 (7:27 am)

  Olympia Coffee is closing at noon

• Patience June 12, 2020 (7:39 am)

  I agree with Open and VicI believe some of those tat commented have not read and/or grasped what BLM S-KC  posted about today’s silent march and general strike.Don’t go to work. Don’t work from home. – no where does it say to shame (boycott) those that choose to go to work OR work from home.Copied from BLM S-KC that WS Blog linked above:

  Details for the General Strike

  On Friday, June 12, we urge everyone to spend their time and energy on direct action for lasting structural change. Don’t go to work, and don’t work from home. We are collecting a list of gatherings in support of the strike across Washington, use it to find an event near you.If you can’t march, take this time as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with your local elected officials. This includes your mayor, city council, county executive, county council, county prosecutor, and state representatives. It helps if you collaborate with friends and neighbors, and reach out to people you know who are more familiar with the local issues. It’s up to you to make sure your local officials feel the pressure to improve police accountability and dismantle the structural racism that has been built into all of our institutions.

  • nonni June 12, 2020 (9:51 am)

    When do we stop marching? Positive change (eg., a restructuring/ retraining of the police force, amnesty for minor offenders locked into the prison system, more loan approvals for BIPOC entrepreneurs) is easier to observe, but already ridiculously long overdue. The immediate, urgent outcry is for an absence, a negative number of deaths occurring in police custody. We can march until the next one happens, and then what? After the shooting deaths of 6-year-olds in Sandy Hook, I was sure the gun lobby would be moved to reconsider regulations. Nope. Then those students from Parkland, eyewitnesses to their classmates’ slaughter, marched on Washington. Results?Police culture is violent, and “oversight” hasn’t worked. As horrendous as George Floyd’s murder is, the video of Maud Arbery’s stalking and lynching gives me even stronger chills, because vigilantes with guns are under no oversight. All the BLM signs, banners and marches on the planet just make them crave their race war harder.

    • Vic June 12, 2020 (4:19 pm)

      I hear your concerns. But blatant racists don’t crave the start of a race war, black people have been oppressed by a race war for the last 400 years. Racist vigilantes with or without guns are dangerous and they crave the status quo, which millions are finally standing up to say is no longer acceptable. Maybe I’m not understanding your comment fully, as it seems you support the BLM movement to some extent but you feel the way people are expressing their support is not sufficient or…? I understand more needs to be done, and I hope my fellow community members are taking whatever steps are within their power to speak up in their families, communities, to their council members, mayors, and state reps. You’re right, progressive change will take more than marching but that is a valuable piece of it and builds that community we need as there is strength in numbers.

• I STAND! June 12, 2020 (10:18 am)

  To say I find this comment thread disappointing would be an understatement.  BLM-KC has called upon each and every one of us to stand up and support them in their chosen way to demonstrate and be heard.  Isn’t this what part of the discussion has been about… I understand I will never understand.  However, I stand!  I, for one, will fully honor BLM-KC’s request.  If you want to talk about hardship, I suggest you take a Black History refresher course. Intended or not, like it or not, you make a political statement with every dollar you spend/purchase you make in America.  What statement you make is YOUR CHOICE.  I, personally, will be focusing my spending on these business listed here, who, despite any further hardship they may endure, stood up for what’s right and showed up as BLM allies. 

• Rg June 12, 2020 (11:06 am)

  Bakery Nouveau was definitely open this morning.   

  • WSB June 12, 2020 (11:25 am)

    Apparently they are closing early, not closing totally. Notation added.

• Alicia June 12, 2020 (11:20 am)

  Does anyone know if trader Joe’s will be open? 

• JL June 12, 2020 (1:16 pm)

  Thanks, Seattle businesses. We love you.

• Thao Coontz June 12, 2020 (1:41 pm)

  Elegant Nails supports    BLACK LIVES MATTER and we are closed today.

  Thank you all for your support!

• ally cat June 12, 2020 (5:20 pm)

  💛 

  Thanks to businesses who closed to show their support today.

  Also thanks to businesses who were not able to close today, but are considering other ways they may show support.

  And just thanks to everyone for doing their best to try and do better.

  Here comes the sun…

• AdmiralBridge June 13, 2020 (12:09 pm)

  Fully supportive of BLM and that policing needs reform – my personal impact has been the seeing all the intervention they’re required to do for social service crisis needs.  However, I wonder to what end we are boycotting or shutting down local businesses.  The change needed will only come about if the president, the senate and the judiciary moves to the next generation and away from Republican control.  All we’re doing is hurting ourselves and our neighbors.  Put the knee on the throat of the donors of the GOP and the advertisers of the microphones-of-hate (EIB broadcasting, Fox News etc).  Boycott their stores, their products and make sure everyone knows who they are.  Short of moving to Kentucky this is the only thing that will make the necessary change in leadership.  We already have a liberal slate of representatives from counselor to governor.

Sorry, comment time is over.