West Seattle, Washington
10 Sunday
The biggest news at last night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting came from guests: Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association reps told the council they may have to sell the three DNDA-owned units in Brandon Court because they won’t be able to make the next mortgage payment. (They’re already listed.) One of those units is empty – DNDA itself vacated last year, consolidating its offices in Youngstown Cultural Arts Center a mile away – and the other one is about to be vacated by the City of Seattle, moving its Neighborhood Service Center to the former Southwest Community Center (as finalized in last month’s budget vote). DNDA’s Patty Grossman and board chair Willard Brown told NDNC – meeting in the Delridge Library, near the units under discussion – that they were hoping to convince the city to change its mind, and that they believed they were getting at least a few months reprieve.
However, our followup conversation with the city today indicates otherwise. More on this, and other topics from the NDNC meeting, ahead:Read More
As far as we can tell, it’ll be this year’s earliest campaign forum in West Seattle: Democratic candidate for governor Rep. Jay Inslee is coming to High Point for a community Q/A session next month. The High Point Neighborhood Association says they also invited Republican candidate state Attorney General Rob McKenna but he “is unavailable.” The forum will be 5:30-8 pm March 15th at High Point Community Center, with refreshments, interpretation, and child care available. (If you’re interested in either or both of the latter two, Shukri Olow would love advance notice at solow@seattlehousing.org or 206-696-3148.)
Just shared with us by a Lafayette Elementary parent – a letter today to the school community from first-year principal Jo Lute-Ervin, saying she will not return for a second year next year. Text after this:Read More
By Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
The foreclosure more than a year ago of the Seamart building in Highland Park had neighborhood folks wondering whether this “food desert” area would ever again see the life-giving sustenance and high-voltage energy of the previous tenants Zippy’s Giant Burgers (WSB sponsor) – since owners Blaine and Rahel Cook ended up moving to a larger space in White Center.
A bank took over the property at 16th/Holden, and for the year-plus since, anxious eyes have kept watch, wondering, hoping, waiting. Then, last weekend, eagle-eyed tipsters scrambled to let WSB know that apparent tenants were actively on site, so, we were asked, WHAT did we know? We dashed over and were lucky to meet one of two future tenants who will split a three-way triple-net on the property: Athena’s owner Nick Parisi.
Nick, his wife, and their two kids are Highland Park residents, and are stepping up to bat at the charmed former Zippy’s location to bring his road-proven, Greek-themed venture home to the people of West Seattle and beyond – and you will be able to get food there sooner than you think.
Could the King County Water Taxi – for both West Seattle and Vashon – wind up with no place to land downtown? Right now it’s using a dock that the state originally built when it offered passenger-only service (including the Seattle-Vashon run that the county took over). But County Councilmember Joe McDermott says the downtown dock’s future may not include a replacement for Pier 50, and he says the time to speak out about that is now:
I started Valentine’s Day by showing some love for the Water Taxi! At 6:30 this morning I started meeting Passenger Only (PO) Ferries arriving in Downtown Seattle to pass out fliers encouraging people to offer comment on the Washington State Ferries plan to replace the aging Colman Dock. While the project is very much needed, the current plans for the project do not include passenger-only facilities.
With 31,981 riders using the water taxi each month in 2011, the current PO dock at Colman Dock, not including the Port of Kingston service or the service Kitsap Transit is about to begin from Bremerton, a well-located and viable passenger only dock is essential to strong transit options. Express your opinion at a public meeting sponsored by Washington State Ferries:
Thursday, February 16, 2012
3:30 – 6:00 PM
Puget Sound Regional Council
Board Room
1011 Western Ave., Suite 500, SeattleIf people can’t attend the meeting on Thursday, they should provide their comment online at:
www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/ferries/colmanmultimodalterminal
or via US Mail:
Washington State Ferries
Attn: Marsha Tolon, WSF Project Environmental Manager
2901 3rd Avenue, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98121I thank everyone for sharing their love with the Water Taxi and taking the time to provide their comments to WSF! Happy Valentine’s Day!
That rusty industrial building at 28th and Yancy often pronounced an “eyesore” is about to come down, we’ve learned, after noticing a demolition permit was granted Monday for the building, and silo, just south of Allstar Fitness. A few years back, it was supposed to come down as part of a development project that was shelved; there’s no active development plan now, so we went over to find out more in person. A worker at the site told us the building and silo will be razed – probably within days – for a “parking lot.” (Whose parking lot, we’re still checking – certainly parking can be a crunch in the area, with Allstar, Nucor, and Longfellow Creek in the area.) A crew is doing prep work at the site right now.
While in the area, we followed up on a story from earlier today:
The big construction crane is indeed going up right now at the 193-unit Youngstown Flats project. 26th SW will be blocked between SW Yancy and Dakota till the work is done at some point this afternoon. We talked with developer Maria Barrientos at the site; she said it’s scheduled to be done by day’s end (only one piece remained when we left around noon, in fact). The crane is expected to be on site for four months.
We’ve received some love-ly photos so far this Valentine’s Day, to share with you. First two are from Betsy Hoffmeister in Delridge, who writes of the photographed “yarnbombing,” “Some lovely neighbors did a good deed to cheer up a person very close to me who wishes to remain anonymous.”
That second photo – a little yarn creation springing up in the garden like a fungus – is the perfect segue to the photo Machel Spence shares:
Machel writes, “Slugs have been munching on the stipe and have managed to leave the shape of a heart…my kind of Valentine’s Day!” (The photo was taken in Machel’s favorite image-hunting grounds – Lincoln Park.)
Got a call today from an Arbor Heights resident – near 44th SW and SW 102nd – who wanted to get the word out about someone who came to her door around 5 pm Monday. She told us he claimed to be raising money for Chief Sealth International High School – but she checked with the school today, and it does NOT have anyone doing door-to-door selling. She also called the police, explaining that after she told the solicitor she wasn’t interested, she watched him for a while, and when he noticed her watching, he started running, catching up with a car that was driving up and down the block. (Sorry, no descriptive info, she mainly wanted everyone to know that any such Sealth soliciting claim was bogus.)
On this day full of sweetness, we welcome Peekaboo Cupcakery as a new West Seattle Blog sponsor. Here’s what Peekaboo Cupcakery would like you to know about their business:
Peekaboo Cupcakery is a delivery cupcakery in West Seattle. Baker and owner Julia Lee noticed back in 2009 that there weren’t any bakeries in Seattle that offered cupcakes with truly exotic or different flavors. “Most cupcakes I’ve seen and tried are either just chocolate or vanilla with the flavoring being only in frostings.” Julia knew that not only did she have to have the flavors in her cakes, but it had to be in the frostings as well. Her cupcakes’ flavors are influenced by her Chinese and Latina background. To make it extra special, Julia specializes in filled cupcakes with fruit preserves and creamy spreads. Hence, the name Peekaboo Cupcakery.
Julia launched her website in September 2011 and is excited to embark on this new journey in her life. “I love the feeling when someone is experimenting with new flavors,” she says, adding: “I hope my cupcakes will make people happy and open their minds to something new.” Please visit Peekaboo Cupcakery at www.peekaboocupcakery.com, or call 206-388-3690. Mention this article and receive $3.00 off your dozen cupcakes!
We thank Peekaboo Cupcakery for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
On the day before an informational meeting for West Seattle’s new public school, opening this fall, Seattle Public Schools interim superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield has announced a principal has been chosen for K-5 STEM at Boren. She’s moving here from Tucson. Here’s the announcement:
I am delighted to announce that I have appointed Dr. Shannon McKinney as principal for the new K-5 STEM at Boren, which will be opening in September 2012 in West Seattle
Dr. McKinney comes to Seattle Public Schools from Tucson, Arizona, where she spent the last three years as Turnaround Principal for Hohokam Middle School, an ethnically diverse middle school in the Tucson Unified School District.
She will oversee our new school focused on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Starting in September 2012, the Louisa Boren Building in West Seattle will be reopened as a STEM Option School for grades K-5. Any interested student in Seattle who will be in kindergarten through 5th grade in September 2012 can apply to attend. School bus transportation will be available for students who live in West Seattle. Open enrollment is from Feb. 27-March 9.
With more than 22 years of educational experience, Dr. McKinney has a decade of classroom teaching, service as an Assistant Principal and Principal in two Tucson-area school districts, and impeccable credentials, including a doctorate in education from the University of Arizona. She is also deeply knowledgeable about STEM subjects, as she served as her district’s Mathematics Coordinator, and was responsible for facilitating the vertical articulation and subsequent curriculum development of K-12 Mathematics for the district.
I selected Dr. McKinney not only for her STEM expertise and her demonstrated record of improved student achievement at the schools where she has been a leader, but also for her enthusiasm for our new STEM school. She describes the opportunity to work collaboratively with families and staff to build a new school from the ground up as “a dream come true.”
Dr. McKinney will be starting at Seattle Public Schools on April 2. She will spend the spring and summer working with families and colleagues to develop a mission and vision for K-5 STEM at Boren, hiring staff, and coordinating the planning and logistics needed to ensure a smooth start to the 2012-2013 school year.
Dr. McKinney stood out as an excellent candidate for this position. I am thrilled she has agreed to accept it, and I am looking forward to introducing her to you once she moves to Seattle.
A reminder: Interested families are invited to attend a K-5 STEM at Boren Family Information and Input Night, 7-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Schmitz Park Elementary (5000 S.W. Spokane St).
If you have any questions about our new K-5 STEM school, please visit http://bit.ly/K5STEM
ADDED 10:45 AM: We asked district spokesperson Lesley Rogers whether Dr. McKinney would be flying in for tomorrow night’s meeting. Her reply: “She is not able to attend tomorrow, but Aurora Lora [executive director of SPS’s West Seattle schools] will run the meeting and communicate with Dr. McKinney on what transpired at the meeting and next steps.”
(Via the WSB Flickr group pool, by “Chroni,” who says the trees are on Pigeon Point, near Pathfinder K-8)
The list of official events is a little shorter than usual today, as some organizations/businesses made calendar changes this month to facilitate Valentine’s Day celebrations. (For example, the Fauntleroy Community Association met last week (WSB coverage here), and the Admiral Neighborhood Association delayed its meeting a day, to 7 pm Wednesday.) Here’s what IS on the list for today/tonight:
BRIDGE CLOSURES AND OTHER ROAD WORK: An especially intense week continues. If you drive through the Morgan Junction/Lincoln Park area on Fauntleroy Way SW, it’s the second day of work on the “transit corridor” project to facilitate this fall’s launch of RapidRide bus service. Here’s our on-scene report from Monday, with more details. … Avalon Way again will have restrictions/detours today, 9 am-4 pm, explained here … Two West Seattle Bridge closures overnight again tonight: The eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct is closed east of the 1st Avenue South offramp, 9 pm-5 am (details here); the Fauntleroy Expressway (southwest end of the bridge) has an overnight closure those same hours, detailed here (and yet another reminder that this coming Sunday, THE FAUNTLEROY EXPRESSWAY WILL BE CLOSED ALL DAY).
LIBRARY STORY TIMES: Two this morning – Toddler Story Time at 10:30 am at West Seattle (Admiral) Library and Baby Story Time at Southwest Library at 11:30 am; links and info reachable via the Seattle Public Library Calendar of Events.
‘HAVE A HEART DAY’ AT ILLUSIONS: As of last report, a few spots were left for Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor)’s “Have a Heart Day” – half the proceeds from all services today go to Pencil Me In for Kids, noon-8 pm. Call ASAP to see if any spots are left: (206) 938-3675
LOVE TREES AND OTHER GROWING THINGS? : Health and Harvest Tours at Community Orchard of West Seattle are 2-4 pm on Tuesdays, details here
VALENTINE’S NIGHT NATURE WALK: Naturalist Stewart Wechsler‘s “Salamander Love Night” nature tour at Camp Long, 6:30 pm (more info here)
NIGHTLIFE, WITH SOME VALENTINE CHANGES: Special Valentine’s dinner at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) – call to check if there’s still room … Skylark Café and Club also has a special dinner menu tonight … Rock music/pop culture trivia at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm … “Geeks Who Drink” pub quiz at The Wing Dome in The Junction, 8 pm … Trivia at The Bridge, $2 registration beginning at 8 pm and play starting at 8:30 pm. … Free pool at Beveridge Place Pub, plus discounts on bottled Belgian beer … Starlight songwriter showcase at Shadowland, 9 pm.
To be able to read well is a gift so many of us take for granted. You can celebrate that gift by sharing it with local students — become a literacy volunteer. Jennie Morrison e-mailed us with news that she is facilitating volunteer training tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon/evening, 3:45-6:15 pm at Concord International School in South Park – part of Seattle Public Schools‘ greater West Seattle service area – along with district literacy coach Dan Coles and Washington Reading Corps member Laura Rodriguez. They’d love to see you too. Jennie explains, “The goal of the training is to support community volunteers at local schools with resources and best practices to use as they work with struggling readers. We are doing outreach to our existing volunteer pool, but would also like to connect with the West Seattle community about this opportunity.” If you have the time and inclination, here’s the flyer with more information, including how to RSVP.
The biggest construction project under way in West Seattle right now is scheduled to move to a new phase this week with the arrival of its crane, possibly as soon as today. We talked recently with Maria Barrientos and Steffenie Evans from the Youngstown Flats project at 26th/Dakota for some quick updates, including the crane status. The 193-apartment project’s general contractor, Absher Construction, created animation showing the order in which sections of the building are going up (the crane’s arrival is noted at 26 seconds in):
As discussed previously, art plays a big role in the project. The biggest pieces are about to be commissioned – sizable sculptures to be displayed in a prominent spot yet to be finalized. The project team also is still awaiting its date with the Seattle Design Commission to review its plan for improvements on the undeveloped street end immediately west of the site. Youngstown Flats is in its fourth month of construction and due for completion in spring of next year.
Two more West Seattle Crime Watch items tonight:
First: Police say they arrested a driver for suspected DUI in The Junction early this evening. WSB contributor Katie Meyer talked with officers at the scene, and took the photo above. Katie reports that, according to police and witnesses, the driver was headed westbound on SW Edmunds from California and made a too-wide right turn onto Edmunds, hitting the front of an occupied vehicle waiting at the stop sign, then continuing up over the curb and grass into the parking lot on the south side of the TrueValue store. No serious injuries reported.
Tonight we also have an “alert neighbor calls 911” report. Though this one didn’t end like the one from Puget Ridge earlier today, the person who e-mailed us about it thought you might want to be on the lookout for the people, and MO, they saw:Read More
(October 2011 photo courtesy Mike Dady)
What started as a seed of an idea in North Delridge last fall – turning 26th SW into a “neighborhood greenway,” an idea that drew City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw to the bicycle tour in the photo above – is now sprouting into something bigger, involving more of West Seattle, and you’re invited to a gathering this Sunday to help the idea keep growing. The announcement comes from local bicycling activist Stu Hennessey:
The neighborhood greenway movement in Seattle has been gaining a lot of momentum lately. Neighborhood greenways are routes which provide safe connections for bicyclists and pedestrians between neighborhoods, and to schools, parks, shopping and other destinations. Often they are located on quiet streets parallel to busy arterials, and include traffic calming measures, protected crossings, pocket parks, and other elements that make the route safer and more pleasant for everybody.
The city of Seattle has committed to funding eleven miles of greenways in 2012, and twelve new miles per year thereafter. Because of the work of several local advocates, two West Seattle routes are under consideration for 2012: 21st ave SW between the West Seattle Bridge and White Center, and 26th Ave SW along the Longfellow Creek Trail through North Delridge. This is just a beginning: we hope to form a vision of bicycle and pedestrian connectivity through West Seattle as a whole, and prioritize greenway routes for future development.
Please join us at Pearl’s Coffee this Sunday, Feb 19 at 3 pm (Pearl’s is located at 4800 Delridge Way SW). We’ll meet with neighbors from around West Seattle to begin discussing our vision for bicycle and pedestrian routes throughout our part of the city. Hope to see you there!
If you have something to say about Metro‘s latest revision of West Seattle route restructuring, as announced February 1st, your best opportunities are this week: Metro will be in West Seattle for one briefing and two open houses; the briefing is at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, 7 pm Wednesday, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center; the open houses are 6-8 pm Wednesday at Madison Middle School and 6-8 pm Thursday at Chief Sealth International High School. Metro had an info table today at South Seattle Community College, a hotbed of concern over the new plan (as voiced at this month’s Southwest District Council meeting) because it would leave SSCC with no direct weekend service to and from downtown. The college is circulating a petition – which you can sign here – and president Gary Oertli also has sent the school community a memo. Read it, ahead:Read More
While the biggest spotlight in Olympia today on the marriage-equality signing, we just got word of a children’s-health bill, sponsored by this area’s State Sen. Sharon Nelson, that’s advancing despite what her announcement says is heavy industry opposition. Read on for the latest on the Children’s Safe Products Act:Read More
(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Thanks to everybody who e-mailed us about what turned out to be another case of a watchful neighbor tipping police to a burglary. It happened in the Puget Ridge area; police at the scene near 18th and Brandon told us they had five people in custody. Here’s how SPD says it unfolded: A neighbor called around quarter till noon to say two people who had arrived in a car were kicking in a door, then while police were on the way, the neighbor called back to say both suspects were in the house. Police got there and wound up taking five people into custody, all apparently headed to the precinct for questioning. Too soon to know if there’s any chance they are connected to other break-ins, but we’ll follow up.
ADDED 3:10 PM: A little more info from Lt. Pierre Davis at the Southwest Precinct, who declares this, “Our West Seattle community and police partnership at work again” – He says, “Our officers, upon getting the info via 911, was able to locate and make the stop of the suspect vehicle. Upon the stop of the vehicle, two of the suspects fled on foot but were later apprehended by investigating officers. The witness was able to ID the subjects and their vehicle.”
(Photo by KING 5’s Drew Mikkelsen, via Twitter)
Minutes ago in Olympia, Governor Gregoire signed the marriage-equality bill. West Seattleites there to witness history included King County Executive Dow Constantine and Anne Levinson, who shared this photo:
Constantine’s official statement:
This is an historic day for our state, as we finally recognize the equality and protect the rights of all the people of Washington.
We can all take pride in our status as the seventh state in the U.S. to recognize that marriage is a basic civil right.
This legislation has been fully and fairly debated. I congratulate Governor Gregoire for signing it into law.
No doubt this law will be challenged. I will work in whatever capacity I can to ensure its approval by Washington voters, just as I fought against the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” more than a decade ago.
I look forward to the day when I can sign King County’s first marriage license for a same-sex couple.
A referendum petition drive is expected, which would mean no weddings until and unless voters upheld the law in November. Meantime, other reaction includes this from West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen: “”This achievement is the result of decades of tenacious and courageous work by people throughout Washington. I especially want to thank Sen. Ed Murray, who has worked tirelessly for fairness and equality for the passage of this landmark law.”
ADDED 2:11 PM: We’ve also heard from West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who shared the photo above:
“Arriving at today’s bill signing was a long road. It took almost three decades to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals had the same basic civil rights and protections as every other Washingtonian.
“But that hard work and years of debate brought us to today.
“Business, faith, civic and labor organizations, straight allies, and gay and lesbian advocates worked together and demanded equality. This morning their applause echoed through the Capitol.
“I commend Governor Gregoire for sharing her own personal journey and championing this historic legislation. She, like many people, realized marriage equality is about fairness and justice.
“Washington now joins only six other states granting lesbian and gay couples the same legal right to a marriage license as straight couples. And I look forward to marrying my partner, Michael, in the great state of Washington.”
He and Michael are in this photo with Executive Constantine and Anne Levinson (who were also shown above):
More details on today’s signing, and what’s next, in this Seattle Times (WSB partner) story.
We got a note over the weekend saying that Trader Joe’s has set April 13th – two months from today – as opening date for its long-awaited, long-under-construction West Seattle location (4545 Fauntleroy Way SW). The sender did not want to be identified, but we did some checking and have multiple reasons to believe they’re reliable. Before mentioning this, we wanted to give the company a chance to confirm/deny, but as with other inquiries in recent months, no reply. (They tend to go into quiet mode at this phase of the game, we’ve heard from others covering under-construction stores, as they assemble the staff and go into the final work phase.) We reported back in December that another source gave us a guesstimate of early spring, and this is in line with that. Plus – most other regional openings have been on Fridays – and April 13th is, yes, Friday the 13th – so we’re sharing this info with you with the caveat that, as with many things on projects like this, it may well change. (You’ll recall that when work began at the site last year, the store was expected to open in late 2011; the last time we got a company reply to an inquiry was in September, when they confirmed it would not be open till 2012.) As for when a formal announcement of the opening date might come – hard to say – when TJ’s opened in Ballard, for example, it simply appeared as a sign on the window one day.
Along Fauntleroy Way just across from the central Lincoln Park parking lot, a contractor working for SDOT is tearing up the sidewalk concrete as the first phase of work to put in RapidRide-ready stops and stations begins. We just talked with SDOT’s Mike Ward at the site for more details beyond the traffic-alert advisory issued last week.
The first phase of work will move from Fauntleroy/Rose (map) moving north to California/Findlay (map) over the next two weeks or so – but NOT simultaneously; this crew will do concrete-demolition work one zone at a time in all six zones along that stretch, and once the demolition work is done over the next few days, another crew will follow to put in the foundation for the RapidRide stops/stations. (So if you see a torn-up spot, with no one there working to fix it, don’t despair, that’s a separate crew and they’ll be following up in a matter of days, Ward says.)
Along the Lincoln Park-vicinity stretch – Fauntleroy/Rose, Fauntleroy/Webster, Fauntleroy/Myrtle – on the outbound (northbound) side, the work will result in new shelters, benches, and signage; it’s all being done in the sidewalk/planting-strip zone, not in the road. On the inbound (southbound) side, they’re generally paving over a section of planting strip for placement of a bench and signage. There’s no real-time bus-status info planned on this stretch (that requires a separate type of signage as well as wiring).
Effects in the work zones, which again, are generally about a block at a time (Fauntleroy/Rose demolition work may be done as soon as noon today, and the crew will move north): Traffic is reduced to one lane each way. The sidewalk is closed where the demolition work is being/has been done, so if you’re walking in the area, you may have to cross to the other side, and then cross back again outside the work zone. There may be short-term temporary bus-stop and no-parking signage. No night work, no weekend work in this phase, Ward says. He also says the work schedule is not yet set for the next phases further north, which will go beyond stations/stops and bulbs when it gets to SW Alaska, where rechannelization (to create a transit lane) and signal-timing work also are part of the plan. He also says King County is handling the station/stop work on the southernmost part of the lane, south of where SDOT’s contractor started today; we’ll be checking on their timetable. RapidRide, replacing Route 54, is scheduled to launch in September.
(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, added 10:30 am)
As of about 9:30 am, our crew estimated the crowd at the rally by the fishing bridge north of the West Seattle “low bridge” at about 100 people. Police are there to monitor in case of traffic road effects, but none are reported so far. The rally is a show of support for independent port truckers who are off the job in protest of safety and other concerns. More to come. (Added) Turnout was up to about 200 by 10 am.
EARLY TUESDAY: Here’s a closer look at the rally and the ongoing dispute, from our partners at the Seattle Times.
“We have a standing joke at Fleurt that we would be wealthy if we collected a penny for every ‘ooh and aahh’ we hear when customers walk through the store. The saying ‘stop and smell the roses’ is alive and flourishing at Fleurt,” says Sam (left), proprietor of the Junction store we’re welcoming as a new WSB sponsor on this Valentine’s Day eve.
Sam explains, “Fleurt is a full-service flower shop. We specialize in weddings, events, funerals and deliveries. We do business a little different to most other flower shops out there. I have built strong relationships with local flower growers. Most of our flowers come from washington farms, direct to Fleurt. We don’t belong to any network which means we create flowers that are not so generic and cookie-cutter. We also have the flexibility to buy from who and what we want to best serve our customers. In turn, our customers value and appreciate our style, ethics and philosophy. Every customer that walks through the door or calls to place an order inspires me to grow and be persistent in spite of a very difficult and competitive marketplace where flower shops struggle everyday.
But, she says, Fleurt is more than a full-service flower shop. “Customers love the Fleurt chalkboard out the front where we announce new product arrivals and special events and Fleurt happenings. Customers are always surprised to find that Fleurt not only sells gorgeous flowers, but I carry many unusual gifts and home decor items that are not found elsewhere. Seattle Magazine named Fleurt one of the ‘best new shopping finds’ in Seattle 2011. People are always amazed by our visual presentation and merchandising within the store. We are a great source for creative decorating and gift ideas and I strive to change up the store every few weeks with new product arrivals. We are always adding and switching things around to keep things exciting and fresh. Many of our products are created by local designers and artisans, as well as vintage finds that have been re-purposed.”
Fleurt is at 4461 California SW. Fleurt will be open special extended hours for Valentine’s Day, 8:30 am-6:30 pm Tuesday, and is still accepting Valentine orders – which you can place online 24 hours a day.
We thank Fleurt for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here. (Photo by Donna Ryan Photography)
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