West Seattle, Washington
20 Wednesday
(Added: WSB photo of Ashcroft Building today)
Starting off the new year is this announcement of a new home for Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor) and The Bass Shop. They’ll be moving from Morgan Junction to the historic Admiral District building that Mud Bay is vacating for its move across the Admiral/California intersection. Here’s the announcement we received this morning from TRG proprietor Frank Gross, who recently bought the 2611 California SW building:
I am thrilled to announce Thunder Road and our roommates The Bass Shop will be moving to the historic Ashcroft Building located at 2611 California Ave SW in the Admiral District here in West Seattle early this spring.
This move nearly triples our current square footage and sets the stage for what I believe will be the very best version of what we do. The building has great bones and our goal is to create an inspiring and visually captivating environment for everyone who walks through our doors.
2026 marks our 15th year in business, and I can’t help but feel extremely grateful to this community, and the community of guitar enthusiasts worldwide that we consider customers, colleagues, friends and family. None of this would be possible without the incredible support from West Seattle and the greater Pacific Northwest. Your loyalty, passion for guitars, and your belief in what we do has put gas in our tank and guitars on our walls and we are forever in debt to you.
Fun West Seattle 1990s era knowledge bomb: When I was a kid this very building we are moving into was the original Alki Bike and Board. Stu, the owner of this establishment, was nice enough to let me put a K2 Shovel BMX on layaway for an entire summer. Come August I must have mowed every single lawn in West Seattle and made enough to pay off the bike. Stu’s kindness and compassion for a young kid who wanted a proper bike was never lost on me and inspires me to this day of how to treat people and run a business.
As for our existing storefront, our new friends at NW Fitness Project will be taking over that location this spring. Here is some info from them about their new location: NW Fitness Project, a celebrated Fremont-based boutique fitness studio specializing in personal training, strength based small-group training, and running coaching, is beyond amped to be moving in for their second location. Known for their “person over program” philosophy and commitment to sustainable, long-term fitness, NW Fitness Project has built a loyal community over eight years through adaptive training that meets each person exactly where they are.
We’re thrilled to pass the torch to fellow small business owners who share our commitment to community investment and are excited to see them serve West Seattle’s active, health-focused residents.
Follow our journey as we restore this 100 year old building and make it our own, one guitar at a time. Look out for moving announcements early this spring.
With love & gratitude,
Frank Gross
Owner & Founder, Thunder Road Guitars
This will be Thunder Road’s third move to ever-bigger spaces in the past 11 years – from 3916 California to The Junction in 2015 and then from The Junction to Morgan Junction in 2019.
(Reader photo, foggy New Year’s Eve at Solstice Park)
Welcome to 2026! We hope this info will be helpful on your New Year’s Day holiday:
WEATHER ALERT: Dense Fog Advisory this morning. Besides visibility challenges, beware of frosty streets.
BUSES: Metro‘s on the Sunday schedule. (Free rides were just for New Year’s Eve, so fares ARE being collected again as of a few hours ago.)
WATER TAXI: Not running today.
FERRIES: Weekend schedule on Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route – check for alerts here.
MORE TRANSPORTATION NOTES: No charge for street parking in areas of the city with pay stations … West Seattle-relevant traffic cameras are here; see all cameras citywide via this SDOT map.
COFFEE AND RESTAURANT/BAR HOURS: This year, we made lists, though closures for New Year’s are far fewer than for Christmas; open/closed coffee shops are listed here, open/closed restaurants/bars are here (scroll past the Christmas info to get to the New Year’s info).
GROCERY HOURS TODAY: A few changes today – our list is here.
NEW YEAR’S DAY WALKS: As they do every year, the Emerald City Wanderers are hosting New Year’s Day walks, starting at St John the Baptist Episcopal Church. The 5- or 10-kilometer walks are noncompetitive, starting between 8:30 and 11:30 am. There is no fee, though contributions to help cover costs are welcome. Hot soup will be available after the walks. St John’s is at 3050 California SW.
ALKI POLAR BEAR SWIM + FOOD DRIVE: You’re invited to join in the annual tradition of running into Puget Sound with more than a thousand others at 10 am sharp, from the beach across from Do Si BBQ, or really, anywhere along the sand – this year, bring a nonperishable-food donation if you can – here’s here’s our most-recent reminder.
OTHER THINGS TO DO: See our Event Calendar – the West Seattle Book Club‘s special holiday edition at 7 pm is a highlight!
OTHER NOTES: Seattle Parks closure info is here … Libraries (city and county) are closed … Solid-waste pickups are on one-day delay for the rest of the week.
If you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we appreciate your tips 24/7/365!
While we were checking out fogged-in Harbor/Alki Avenues around 11 pm, police were investigating gunfire in the Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex/Southwest Teen Life Center/SW Pool vicinity. It’s not easy on a night like this to discern gunfire from fireworks but in this case, the report didn’t come from 911, it came from an officer who told dispatch he saw the gunfire just before multiple vehicles scattered, and reported “casings all over the place” – from at least two different guns, a handgun and rifle. He told dispatch he surmised people in multiple vehicles “were shooting at each other.” No report of injuries, nor of where exactly it happened – the address 2801 SW Thistle covers a lot of ground at those facilities; we’ll be requesting the report.
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