(WSB photo from 4/17/2010 – Brunette Mix [WSB sponsor] is participating again this year)
Yes, it’s not technically a tax-free day – but it’s definitely a DISCOUNT day. On this special date in The Junction, participating merchants pay your sales tax, so you get a discount of at least 9.5 percent. The West Seattle Junction Association has just announced this year’s version of what is becoming an annual tradition – on Saturday, April 16th, 10 am-6 pm, 37 merchants are signed up (see the list here). When you go to The Junction that day, look for the red balloons, which mean you’ll find “all-day tax-free shopping,” as the official announcement puts it, “as well as deep discounts on a wide range of goods and services.” Follow the list link to see some of those discounts!

Three business-anniversary celebrations of note:

BIN 41 WINE SHOP: Today is the one-year anniversary of the “soft opening” for Bin 41 wine shop in The Junction. We stopped in to photograph owners T. Frick McNamara and Jon McNamara; they’re planning a big celebration for April 1st, but today has sentimental value. They’re also continuing with Friday night tastings – 5:30-7 pm this Friday, it’s winemakers from the Willamette Valley.

MAX AND QUINN’S ATOMIC BOYS SHOP-O-RAMA: The Admiral District toys-memorabilia-and-other-quirky-stuff shop at 4311 SW Admiral Way is celebrating three years in business. They’ve announced a party for this Saturday, 10 am-6 pm, “food, fun, and games.”

And there’s a big anniversary for a little Morgan Junction restaurant:

(Photo by Bill Hutchison for WSB)
ABBONDANZA TURNS TEN: To thank customers who have kept them in business for a decade, through ups and downs, even as more eateries moved into the area, Abbondanza is now open for lunch, with a special “Presto, Presto” offering 11 am-2 pm Mondays-Fridays, two for one through April 15th (back to regular pricing after that) – pan pizza and soup or salad. They also are serving brunch, 9 am-2 pm, $11.95 fixed price, “with an Italian flair,” we’re told – that includes options such as eggs Florentine, an Italian frittata, Croccante Signore (like a Croque Monsieur), or Spaghetti Pie. Abbondanza is at 6503 California SW, just south of the intersection with Fauntleroy.

Just in from Shannon Felix of Avalon Glassworks, on behalf of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce awards committee – the big announcement about who will be honored at the Chamber’s annual awards breakfast on April 6th:

The results are in! Thank you to all who submitted nominations for The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Program. From a pool of over one dozen businesses, the committee has selected Salty’s on Alki as the WestSide Business of the Year for 2010. Please join us in honoring them at the Awards Breakfast, coincidentally, at Salty’s on Alki on April 6, 2011. All the nominees represented the quality West Seattle businesses which make us proud, including: West Seattle Thriftway, Mashiko, Bakery Nouveau, Stor-More, Auto Buff, Click! Design That Fits, Luna Park Cafe, ZippyDogs, Roxbury Lanes, Husky Deli, J.F. Henry, and Avalon Glassworks.

A new award category this year is WestSide Emerging Business of the Year. Congratulation to Mountain To Sound Outfitters for being the first recipient and a strong addition to our business community. Some other fresh faces are already making a great impression. Nominees for WestSide Emerging Business of the Year, a category that honored those in business less than three years, included: Tuscan Tea Room, Fresh Bistro, Service Dog Academy, Suite Arrangements, The Swinery, Westside Yoga & Doga, West Seattle Produce Co., The Andover School, Avalon Restaurant, and Feedback Lounge.

Also new this year is the Not-For-Profit category, to which The West Seattle Farmers Market has been chosen WestSide Not-for-Profit Business of the Year. West Seattle is home to some hard-working Not-for-Profit organizations. Nominees for this inaugural award included West Seattle Helpline, Seattle Chinese Garden Society, WestSide Baby, and Rotary Club of West Seattle.

Finally, the second-annual WestSider of the Year award goes to Richard Jump, charismatic executive director of the White Center Food Bank. Since becoming executive director six years ago, he has expanded the programs of the food bank with a new user-friendly facility, additional staff and volunteers, the Baby Pantry, and a Mobile Food Bank to reach even more members of the community. “Every program enhancement or building design decision gives great focus on client dignity and convenience,” expresses Nancy Woodland of WestSide Baby. “He recognizes goodness in people, and builds relationships.”

For more information, or to purchase tickets for the WestSide Annual Awards Program Presentation, contact the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 206-932-5685.

As last year’s Business of the Year honorees, we at WSB congratulate this year’s winners – see you at the breakfast! (P.S. The Chamber’s regular monthly meeting today was at the Southwest Precinct, and some interesting information about West Seattle crimefighting emerged – watch for the story here later.)

(Photo by Deanie Schwarz for WSB)
PORTSIDE COFFEE COMPANY MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY: Amid all the hubbub over Highland Park business changes at 16th/Holden, we almost lost sight of the fact that even with JoJo’s closed, HP still has coffee – Portside Coffee Company, in the big metallic ship-shape building, is down the Highland Park Way hill at 6720 West Marginal Way. Owners Sarah and Justin Awes told WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz that business in Year 1 exceeded their projections and continues to grow, as people continue to discover them: “I hear this all the time from people – they’ll tell me ‘I’ve driven by here a hundred times and never saw you,’” Sarah says. Her father built the custom “ship’s hull” coffee stand. She says they were the first espresso stand in Seattle to use coffee from Lynnwood-based Silver Cup; they’ve built business with “Two-Dollar Tuesdays,” charging that sum for a 16-ounce coffee drink (single or double) or 12-ounce fruit smoothie. Portside is open 5 am-5 pm weekdays, 7 am-noon Saturdays, closed Sundays.

LOCAL MARTIAL-ARTS ENTREPRENEUR LEADS NATIONAL ORGANIZATION: Lisa Skvarla, who owns LMA Martial Arts in West Seattle, is now the chair of the Association for Women’s Self-Defense Advancement, a national nonprofit organization. From the online announcement (which you can read in full here):

Skvarla has attended numerous AWSDA conferences over the years, in Toronto, Phoenix, Greenville, South Carolina, and Asheville, North Carolina. “Those conferences were so beneficial and many of them changed my life,” she says. “Every time I came home I was pumped about the information I had received. Teachers and members from all over the world, including Germany, South Africa, England, Denmark, come to the AWSDA conferences.

AWSDA welcomes anyone who supports the growth and improvement of a woman’s ability to defend themselves. Membership and involvement is relevant to everyone – (including) housewives, teenage girls, self-defense instructors, law enforcement professionals, and rape-crisis counselors. All male teacher applicants are required to submit a brief resume plus a letter of intent explaining their reasons for applying for AWSDA. In conclusion, Skvarla advises: “I would encourage all women to get involved, empower themselves and improve their personal safety. It is a great honor to serve and to be a part of this organization.”

As you might recall, Skvarla is also an actor/stuntperson, recently featured in a cable-TV movie.

WEST SEATTLE AUTHOR WINS AWARD: Alki-based author Robyn M Fritz was honored recently by the Dog Writers Association of America with their 2010 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award. It’s a national award, sponsored by Merial, for “the work that best highlights the unique relationship between a dog and its owner and best brings to life the concept of the human-animal bond.” In this case, the work the award honors is Fritz’s book (cover at left), “Bridging Species: Thoughts and Tales About Our Lives with Dogs.” The award came with a $500 cash grant and a $250 travel stipend to attend the banquet. More information at www.alchemywestinc.com. Robyn is co-hosting “Crystals as Art” at Alki Arts next Saturday, 2-7 pm (more info here).

Often a big new sign where there was none before means a new business. Not in this case. Brian Presser of TouchTech Systems in The Junction (4517 California SW, on the east end of the breezeway) e-mailed to share news of the new sign – his first big street-facing sign after more than three years at that location: “TouchTech started on January of ’96 and we’ve been in West Seattle since October ’07. After many years of meeting people and hearing them say, ‘I had no idea you were here,’ we decided to take the plunge and go big! We had a small sign at eye level just outside the breezeway door on California, but this is way bigger and brighter.” TouchTech offers a variety of tech-related services, including being an authorized Apple reseller.

Laurie Paul is a longtime West Seattle resident who is thrilled that her commute is about to get a lot shorter. She has been director of a Bright Horizons child-care center in Bellevue for 14 years – and now she is going to lead its first center in West Seattle, at Link (WSB sponsor) in The Triangle. If you see this before 7 pm, you have a chance to meet her during a drop-in informational session that’s under way at Cupcake Royale in The Junction (California/Alaska); otherwise, watch this webpage for upcoming events (like a hard-hat tour on March 31st). Paul told WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen at today’s event that Bright Horizons is scheduled to open in Link on May 2nd.

Bright Horizons started back east and now has centers in North America and Europe. Some of its centers are partnered with companies to serve their employees (local Starbucks workers may be familiar with the Mermaid’s Lagoon program), but others are standalone community-serving centers like the one in West Seattle will be. According to our earlier conversation with regional manager Mahira Aleem, the center will serve more than 160 children, including three infant rooms. They also hope to integrate their program with some of Link’s unique features, such as the gardens planned on its rooftop deck. Their facilities are centered on the north side of Link, but they also have outdoor play areas, including one being built at the site east of neighboring Lien Animal Clinic where the Link construction trailer has been based.

Though they’re two months away from opening, they’re signing up families now, and you can find information – including phone and e-mail contacts – on their West Seattle-specific webpage, here.

Six West Seattle business notes to share this evening (and more in the works!) …

(Photo by Deanie Schwarz for WSB)
SOUTH DELRIDGE DEMOLITION: The former Circle K/gas-station property at 9061 Delridge Way (map), idle for several years, is undergoing digging/demolition work; the gas tanks will be taken out this Thursday, reports WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz, who spoke with the crew, apparently in preparation for potential sale. (County records show Circle K still owns the site.)

ON SAFARI MOVES ON: We’ve received a few notes from people who’ve noticed that catering company On Safari Foods has cleared out of its longtime kitchen location on 35th just south of Henderson. Our inquiry to its owner hasn’t been answered yet, but according to On Safari’s Facebook page, it’s just moved to a new HQ on 3rd Avenue South in SODO. That makes it the second catering company, after Herban Feast, to move to SODO from WS. (More on the former HF location later in this roundup … ) UPDATE: Minutes after we published this, On Safari’s Teresa Carew replied:

There were a few reasons for our move: we had outgrown our space, as our Google account and general business expanded; we also felt that for the sake of our customers and our business, we had to move before Hwy 99 came down.

I have been searching for a kitchen for a couple of years now, and this one became available. It is the old Organics to Go kitchen. We have moved from 2200 sq. ft. to 5000 sq. ft! Our cooks are in heaven.

At On Safari Foods, our main focus is on creating the type of experience that makes our customers come back time and time again. Our food is lovingly prepared, with fine, fresh, all natural and wherever possible, organic ingredients.

We are going to miss our old location. I really wanted to put a lovely gastro-pub in our location, but do not have the means to do so at the moment – there is not much in the way of a cool neighborhood pub in that area – any investors around?

May I brag on behalf of all our fabulous cooks? Every year Google does a survey of all its cafes to determine how the employees find their cafe operators. There are about 85 Google cafes around the world. Our cafe in Fremont ranked among the top four in the world for satisfaction with quality of food and service!

BIRD ON A WIRE CHANGE: On Safari’s now-former location included the original home of Bird on a Wire Espresso, whose Westwood location is currently around the corner on SW Henderson. Bird’s latest e-mail newsletter notes that they plan to cease beer/wine sales at that location, to focus on coffee. They also have a new initiative at the new-ish 2nd location in Admiral (2604 California SW) – “Bring a same-day receipt from any Admiral business and get a free sweet (with coffee purchase)!”

MEANDER’S: The cozy eatery that opened in the ex-Jade West space last month (6032 California SW) has received rave reviews and is starting to add lunch items, as well as looking at expanding into adjacent space – here’s the latest from its proprietor Miranda Krone.

COASTAL TO REOPEN: After closing for a winter hiatus, the boutique Coastal on Alki is reopening this weekend, first for weekend-only hours, then fulltime starting in April.

SPIRA POWER YOGA ON THE WAY: The former Herban Feast location across from Admiral Theater has a new tenant on the way – Spira Power Yoga. After a WSB’er noticed a sign in the empty storefront and pointed us to this website, we contacted proprietor Dora Gyarmati for more information. She tells WSB she’s hoping to open May 15th, and explains why she chose West Seattle for her studio:

I love the energy in West Seattle. It has a very loving, relaxed, vibe. Also, people tend to be very active, walking, biking. All of these make it a perfect audience for the type of yoga I will be offering. I have a lot of friends that live in West Seattle, and a lot of my students drive from West Seattle to Bellevue or downtown Seattle just to take my classes….They have been begging, it is time! West Seattle needs a Power Flow studio!

More on her new studio after the jump:Read More

Late Friday night, capping a busy week of new-and-moving-business news, we reported that The Sneakery, a Ballard shoe store, is expanding to West Seattle, in the space at 4736 California SW that was long home to Liberty Bell Printing (which moved to a storefront-less location two months ago). We also sent an inquiry to the store’s owner, hoping to get some timetable information, and just heard back. Owner Drea tells WSB “… the space is going to take a lot of work to get up and running. Look for us to open sometime in May. We will be offering old-school sneakers from Saucony Originals, Adidas, Puma, PF Flyers and more. Plus, we will have an extensive sock selection. We are pleased as punch to be serving the people of West Seattle!”

Thanks to Desiree, first to send a note tonight about a sighting in the Junction block we’ve been talking about most of the week – east side of California, north of Edmunds. The former HQ of Liberty Bell Printing – which is still in business elsewhere in West Seattle, without a retail storefront – has a new tenant. “Coming Soon: The Sneakery,” say the signs (as you can see in our iPhone photo at left) – a shoe store. (Datapoint – you might recall, Volume/Payless Shoe Source was in that block some years back.) Desiree even pointed us to a website for The Sneakery, currently based in Ballard. We haven’t reached the proprietor yet, but the city business-license database confirms the West Seattle location has the same owner, and checking The Sneakery’s Facebook page, a cryptic post a few weeks back asked where “fans” might want to see a second location … half of the 12 respondents mentioned West Seattle. We’ve got notes out to see if we can find out how soon they plan to open.

(To recap the week’s earlier discussion of this block – first Tom Yum Koong closed; then we confirmed its new ownership; and today, we confirmed Petco is moving elsewhere in The Junction.)

Something new, three and a half years after Chuck and Sally’s Tavern in Morgan Junction closed without fanfare (as we reported in early September 2007, the original note on the door just said “Closed for a few days/Cooler problems,” and it never reopened): Driving by late today, we did a double-take after spotting the huge FOR LEASE signs in the windows. Owner Jim Jacobsen told Seattle Weekly seven weeks ago that he was looking for a tenant, but the marketing effort appeared to be low-key – till now. Jacobsen told the Weekly the building’s been owned by his family for almost 70 years.

If you’ve driven through Fauntleroy/Alaska over the next few days, you have likely noticed another rebranding in progress at the gas station on the east side of the intersection – we’ve received four notes about this so far. Most recently, it’s been a 76 station; before that, a BP. WSB contributor Katie Meyer went over for the photo and a check on what the blue color scheme portends; answer – Arco. She talked with the crew working on the rebranding – including some digging that has to do with infrastructure for the pumps’ payment system – and neither they nor the employees could tell us whether this means an ownership change, or just a rebrand, just that they’re working to get it done as fast as possible. Another national brand spotted not far away:

Thanks to the WSB’ers who wrote with sightings of the Sprint sign in the window of what was briefly a Starbucks on the north side of inner Jefferson Square (and Infinity Espresso before that) – we haven’t rustled up the projected opening date yet (here’s the city project page), but the sign promises “coming soon.” Jefferson Square had a cell-phone store until Cellular World closed after opening a new storefront in Morgan Junction. There’s also a quick update on an in-progress project we wrote about a few months ago:

(WSB photo from last December)
The former pharmacy at California/Brandon – reported here in December as in transition to a “neighborhood restaurant and bar” – has applied for its liquor license, and in the process its new name is now public: Outwest Bar. We checked again with the new tenants, who told WSB they don’t have anything more to say yet about their plans.

ADDED 8:44 PM: Making a periodic check of the commercial-real-estate listings, we note that the OTHER gas station on the west edge of The Triangle, currently a Shell station, is now for sale – just under $2 million.

This Monday, just like every previous Monday after the Super Bowl, the West Seattle produce stand Tony’s Market will reopen after its post-Christmas break. But unlike previous years, its original namesake won’t be there – it’s been two months now since Tony Genzale lost his fight with cancer, at just 61. This afternoon we talked with his son, Joey, as he worked to set up the 35th/Barton market for a new year. He told WSB there was never a question that the market would stay open – his dad said, “Take care of your mother. Take care of the business.” That means not just the produce, but also Christmas trees – like the ones he was back selling right after his dad died. Yes, things will be different – for not-so-obvious reasons, too – in the photo, that’s Joey with a new center-aisle case that will keep produce cooler, and fresher, during summer months. But some things will be the same – Joey promised his dad that you’ll still hear Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra when you stop by – which you’re welcome to do once they’ve reopened at 8 am Monday.

(Mission photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Happy anniversary to several West Seattle businesses who have just begun another year! First: In a business where many don’t survive the first year, Mission in the Admiral District just celebrated another milestone last night – its sixth anniversary. Owners Eric Cozens and Peter Morse joined their patrons in celebrating. They reminisced about how its distinctive decor came to be – including the brick wall they built themselves, and hanging lights imported from Mexico year before last.

Entertainment for last night’s Mission bash included the local band Spoils. Last weekend, a band known for a much-different genre headlined the Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor) anniversary party:

That’s the West Seattle Big Band, there to help mark 10 years in operation for the retirement center that’s right across from the Admiral Theater. Other anniversaries:

AVALON GLASSWORKS: In the Luna Park business district, Avalon Glassworks turned 18 this past Tuesday.

FITNESS TOGETHER-WEST SEATTLE: The Junction-based fitness studio (a longtime WSB sponsor) celebrated 4 years in business recently.

PHOENECIA: As of last weekend, it’s been one full year since the reborn Alki restaurant reopened. (They’re offering a prix-fixe dinner for Valentine’s Day, by the way.)

WEST 5: As noted here last week, the iconic Junction restaurant/bar is planning its 8th-anniversary party next Tuesday.