Saturday night in The Junction, and the nightlife is usually centered around the restaurants and bars – but this evening, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) was the place to be. Two weeks after opening for business in their new, larger Junction store, proprietors John and Frances Smersh threw their official grand-opening party. The top photo was taken from the “mezzanine” overlooking the store’s main floor – it’s mostly administrative/storage space, but tonight it was DJ Cotton Candy‘s perch too:

Back down among the partygoers and merchandise, two young shoppers found a place to sit:

This is the seventh year in business in West Seattle for Click! – their sixth anniversary was October 1st, the day the new store at 4540 California SW opened its doors. T-shirts, anyone?

As first reported here earlier this week, their former storefront at 2210 California SW is now the future home of West Seattle Fabric Company.

The Admiral District space that Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor, now in The Junction) vacated at 2210 California SW didn’t stay empty for long. Meet Monica Skov (and daughter) – Monica is going to open a fabric store there, something West Seattle has been without since Hancock Fabrics closed two years ago to make way for the now-tied-up-in-lawsuits 39th/Alaska development. Monica tells WSB that her store, West Seattle Fabric Company, will carry fabrics and notions like thread and needles. While the notions will be fairly basic, she’s planning on a variety of fabrics including special vintage-inspired fabric and brands such as Amy Butler/FreeSpirit, Michael Miller, Kona Cotton/Robert Kaufman. She also hopes to eventually have classes for people who are new to sewing, and quilting groups. She’s expecting to open the shop within the next two months – as you can guess from the photo, remodeling is under way now.

West Seattle Chamber of Commerce members heard from Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen during their lunch meeting today at the tribe’s Longhouse and Cultural Center in eastern West Seattle. She provided an update on the tribe’s fight for federal recognition, granted toward the end of the Clinton Administration, invalidated at the start of the Bush Administration: Hansen says the Duwamish have a new legal team in place to help them with their appeal of the latter decision, which they had been pursuing for years, along with new legislation. (She in fact left shortly after her speech for a meeting with the new team, which is why we don’t have a photo of her from today – we’d intended to take one with Chamber leaders as the lunch wrapped up.) According to Hansen, the tribe’s 600 current members are spread around the region, and their intent to seek recognition has no “ulterior motive.” She requested support in the form of letters to Congress, asking them to get the recognition process moving. Meantime, the Longhouse has presented a variety of fundraisers to help pay the legal bills, under the “Frybread for Justice” umbrella – there’s another one this Saturday; check the Longhouse website’s Calendar of Events for more on that and many other upcoming events.

OTHER NOTES FROM THE CHAMBER LUNCH: Local businesses are invited to join a Seattle Chamber event tonight that’s almost in West Seattle – a citywide mixer at Herban Feast’s Sodo Park, 5:30 pm … That’s also the site of next week’s Chamber fundraiser, Bordeaux, Bites, and Boogie, October 21st at 5 pm (more information here) … City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw will be the “Lunch with LEO” guest for the periodic brown-bag-with-an-elected-leader at WS Chamber offices, noon October 28th, RSVP required … And next month’s Chamber lunch will feature South Seattle Community College‘s new president Gary Oertli.

Sometimes when a business moves, its old location is empty a while. Not the case with the longtime Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor) spot at 7501 35th SW (map). As first noted here in late July, a tenant was lined up long before Swedish moved to its newly built headquarters a few blocks south. Above, the proprietors you’ll now find at 35th/Webster – Todd Ainsworth and Chris Christensen (above), who are now up and running with West Seattle AutoWorks. They went public with details a month ago, as Swedish prepared to move, and today marks the start of their first full week in business. Chris and Todd are both West Seattleites and have worked locally for a long time too; they do repair/maintenance on everything but the cars Swedish handles to the south. They’re online, too – on Facebook here, on the Web here – open Mondays-Fridays, 8 am-5:30 pm.

Thanks to Brian Presser from local Mac dealer TouchTech Systems in The Junction for sharing the photo – First Mutual Bank has been part of Washington Federal for a while (as noted on its website), but the new sign has just arrived.

(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen)
If you’re in the promotional-items business – just figures you’re going to put pizzazz into the otherwise semi-simple act of moving your location. And so tonight, the proprietors of ZippyDogs – Elise “Top Dog” Lindborg and Kelli “Chili Dog” Henderson – threw a party to celebrate the ribbon-cutting outside their new “world headquarters” in the newly built 6031 California SW building north of Morgan Junction. They’re not a new business – 10 years (“that’s 70 in dog years,” their website points out) – but now they’ve got fresh digs, and they hosted friends/clients/community members tonight:

ZippyDogs makes a point of offering eco-friendly options – and its proprietors show their environmental interest on the road too:

That’s their ZENN electric car (zero emission, no noise). (P.S. – Practically across the street, another business celebrates its own new location this weekend – Solar Epiphany plans an open house at its new solar showroom, 6016 California SW, 10 am-4 pm Saturday.)

Today we’re welcoming a new WSB sponsor, Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering and Events. New sponsors are offered the chance to tell you about their business – so here’s what they want you to know: At Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering and Events, we care deeply about the relationships that we have built over the years. We are delighted to have happy clients and guests who repeatedly refer us to their friends and call us for their events again and again. Let our knowledgeable event specialists take the stress out of the event-planning process. Utilizing the freshest of ingredients and taking advantage of the region’s finest seafood, produce and specialty items, our talented chefs will prepare your menu with imagination and flair. Our service team is known for their courteous, professional service. Our aim is to allow you to relax and enjoy your party and your guests. Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering and Events has been in business for 25 years, 16 of those years at The Hall at Fauntleroy. Although this is our exclusive venue, we will go anywhere you please, from a dinner party in your home, to any of the other beautiful venues in Seattle and the surrounding areas. Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes owners David and Meg Haggerty, along with David Meckstroth, have always made a commitment to give back to the community. A few of the ways that they do this is by being a sponsor of the annual Fauntleroy Fall Festival and by hosting an annual Free Community Thanksgiving dinner at The Hall at Fauntleroy. We are pleased that many of the local schools and nonprofit organizations choose to have their annual fundraisers at The Hall at Fauntleroy. Call us at 206-932-1059, or visit our website. We would love to talk to you about your next party!

We thank Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering and Events for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; look for Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes at the Fauntleroy Fall Festival on October 17th! Find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.

Just after 5 pm tonight, John Smersh pulled away the last of the brown paper covering the windows and doors, finishing the transformation of the former Friends and Company storefront at 4540 California SW into the new West Seattle Junction home of Click! Design That Fits (longtime WSB sponsor). John and wife/co-proprietor Frances Smersh were determined to open today, even if only for two hours, for “sentimental” reasons – October 1st is the date they opened their original store in Admiral, in 2004. Tonight, by 5:30, the browsers had begun to wander in:

The space will fill up a bit more between now and their official October 16th grand opening – but for now, you can stop in this weekend, try sitting in a Fatboy chair – beyond beanbag! – check out the jewelry and “home accents.” They’re online at clickdesignthatfits.com and on Facebook here.

The sudden closure of The Body Bar on the north end of The Junction brought in some questions – and after several days of research, we finally have some answers. For starters, Nita, who owns Salon 08 around the corner, says she has purchased the space and will reopen it as NRG Spa. Regarding Body Bar customers’ questions about previously purchased gift certificates, Nita referred us to The Body Bar’s former owner, Therese. We have just spoken by phone with Therese, who says she now has her own practice and is working in a Junction space shared by multiple wellness businesses (upstairs from JaK’s) and is there 3-9 pm Fridays and Sundays, and that she also is hosting lunch events at noon Wednesdays at Buddha Ruksa. But most importantly, for those who have Body Bar gift certificates, Therese confirms she is honoring those and asks that people holding them call her at 206-226-5175.

(Click! proprietors Frances and John Smersh look into their new space from its rear “mezzanine”)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

By the time they closed its doors after a farewell toast, John and Frances Smersh had nicknamed their original Click! Design That Fits location in the Admiral District “Click! Classic.”

Sunday was the last day their home accents/jewelry/more store (a longtime WSB sponsor) was open at the “classic” location. They are working now to finish their new West Seattle Junction space in hopes of a “soft open” this Friday – the sixth anniversary of the day they opened “Click! Classic” – with an official “grand opening” celebration planned for October 16.

One night last week, we met with Frances and John to check out the construction at the new Click! space (4540 California SW, vacated just a month ago when Friends and Company consolidated its operations on the Eastside).Read More

West Seattle is home to many notable bakeries – from Bakery Nouveau to Heavenly Pastry and Cake to Shoofly Pie Company to Coffee to a Tea with Sugar to The Original Bakery, and more! We happened onto the story of a one-person bakery too … Manderin Cookie Company.

(Amanda Nokes, photographed during WSB interview at Uptown Espresso in The Junction)

Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

“Cookies have become sophisticated — they’re not just for kids any more.” If you needed permission to eat more cookies, Amanda Nokes of Manderin Cookie Company may just have granted it — provided of course that you are indulging in her freshly-baked and delivered traditional cookies with a twist.

A self-professed “food junkie,” Amanda creates recipes in her head that combine the perfect balance of sweet and salty flavors and textures. She adds caramel to the peanut butter cookie and dried cherries to the oatmeal raisin cookie. Her next cookie creation tentatively called “Bean’s Kitchen Sink Cookie” will combine goldfish crackers with vanilla Oreo cookies, butterscotch chips and malted milk balls. She says, “I love desserts and want to find new ways to deliver them to my thighs.”

All her cookies are given family names — “Bean” is her daughter’s nickname and son Max has his own mega-chocolate cookie: “The Max.”

Amanda’s cookie venture began a year and a half ago as something to do while looking for work.

Read More

Swedish Automotive owner Dave Winters is proudly welcoming everyone to this afternoon’s open house/housewarming celebration at Swedish’s newly completed, bigger location, 7901 35th SW (map). Above, that’s Dave at left with a longtime friend who’s also a big name in the West Seattle auto-repair/maintenance business, Tom Smith of Tom’s Automotive Service in The Triangle. (Both Swedish and Tom’s are WSB sponsors.) And what would a celebration of an automotive business be without cars? Swedish classics are on display:

And you may not be surprised to hear that the food being served up during today’s celebration includes Swedish meatballs:

Everybody’s welcome to stop by till 4 pm – not just for the food, fun, and fine folks, but also to see the green features of the new location – from drought-resistant native plantings, to the heating system designed to use waste oil, to the special nonpolluting car-wash bay (as noted in our sneak preview a few weeks ago).

Tonight, Alki’s peppy boutique Coastal is hosting a Customer Appreciation Night event, 5-8 pm. You might want to go show some Retailer Appreciation if you’re a Coastal fan – the shop has announced that “for the first time since our first winter,” they will shut down for the offseason. The closure starts October 4th and they expect to reopen on or around March 25th. But Coastal insists, “Please do not take this as a bad sign!” They explain why you shouldn’t, in their online announcement.

As mentioned in our food-notes roundup on Friday night – Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) is in the midst of its annual “For the Love of Cheese” celebration, and today’s the biggest event at the Admiral store, with cheesemakers and samples till 5 pm. You can also check in on the hand-pulled mozzarella that Metropolitan Market staffers make year-round:

The full schedule of cheese festival events at the Metropolitan Markets around the region is online here.

One week after Square One Books proprietor Gretchen Montgomery announced they had shut down for good, without getting to say goodbye in person – she just e-mailed with word of a chance for you to stop by, particularly if you’re interested in the following free and for-sale items:

Square One Books is giving away all of our bookshelves. We have a variety of sizes. Some are freestanding, but most need to be attached to a wall. We have already disassembled most of them. We will be here on Friday and Saturday from 1-3. The shelves are free, but donations are greatly appreciated. You must be able to haul them away. They tallest shelves are 84″ long, but we have some that are a bit smaller. Please bring a drill with a phillips head bit just in case you want one of the shelves that has not been taken down yet. If you cannot come during the times we will be here on Friday and Saturday, let me know and I will make other arrangements with you.

We also have many of our store decorations for sale as well as other items such as folding chairs. We hope to see you here! This would be a great time to say goodbye as well.

If you’d never been there – Square One is along the east interior side of Jefferson Square.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

On Friday morning, Swedish Automotive owner Dave Winters looked out the front windows of his almost-finished new location at 7901 35th SW, as Seattle City Light crews hooked up the power – another milestone on the way to move-in day.

It’s been under construction six months (here’s our report from when the work began), but Swedish (a longtime WSB sponsor) has had this on the drawing board a lot longer.

This coming Friday, Winters and his team are scheduled to do their last work at their long-outgrown old site a few blocks north, before a weekend of moving. We visited him the other day to take a look at the new space, which you’ll be able to tour during a community celebration/open house on September 25th (that coincidentally is after the same day’s morning open house at the new campus of Chief Sealth International High School, which happens to be Winters’ alma mater).

He was one of three tour guides with us on Friday – joined by Sören, who’s handling parts, and daughter Farleigh, who was about to head back to the University of Oregon, where she’s studying architecture (while home for the summer, she’d done some work with project architect Curtis McGuire).

Click ahead for a look at some of Swedish Automotive’s new features, with a sustainability focus – plus what we’ve learned about who will move into its old site (when we first reported the lease-signing in late July, the tenant wasn’t ready to go public):Read More

(Photo added 9:31 am – the letter is posted on the Square One storefront door)
The one-week closure announced by Square One Books in Jefferson Square has turned out to be permanent. Square One’s Gretchen Montgomery made the announcement this morning, asking us to share this letter with you:

I want to let all of my wonderful customers know that Square One Books is closing. I am greatly saddened to have to do this to our West Seattle community of booklovers who have been supporting the store for nearly 23 years. One of the hardest parts of the closing is that I have been unable to let you all know in advance. I wanted to be able to tell all of you and at least have had a closing sale where we could all reminisce and say our goodbyes.

Unfortunately, on the advice of my lawyer, I was unable to do this. I needed to close the store promptly, which meant not be able to say anything to you all when you expressed concern and asked if we were ok.

For the almost 8 years that I have owned the store, I have been trying my hardest to keep the store afloat. Many factors disadvantaged us: the opening of the Westwood Barnes and Noble, increased online purchasing, books being sold everywhere at steep discounts, the economy, high rent, and the recent trend toward e-books.

For years I have taken no salary and have personally taken on more financial debt to keep the store going. I cannot continue to struggle to pay my bills and to be constantly consumed with stress due to my situation. As much as I love the bookstore and my customers, owning the bookstore was no longer good for my mental health, my family and my financial state.

We have had the store for sale for 1.5 years, and while many people want to own a bookstore, there was no interest in purchasing a store with the overhead costs we are carrying at this location. I believe that a new, independent bookstore is needed in West Seattle and that one could succeed in a more favorable spot. I wish I could be the one to move and start again, but I cannot, and I hope that someone is willing to give it a try.

We, myself and my staff, hope to see you all around West Seattle as we have gotten to know so many of you so well over the years. We will miss our bookstore friends; you are all very special people to us. Again, I wish I could have stayed in business for you, and I thank you all for your years of support. I know you tried very hard to keep us here.

Take care,
Gretchen & the Square One Books Staff

ADDED 2:39 PM: We contacted Gretchen to ask a few questions that surfaced in comments and/or were directly e-mailed to us. Here’s her reply:

I will put up info on our door about how gift cards can be handled. … I am in the process of contacting everyone personally that I had special orders for, and if people have any questions, they can email me at gtm@square1books.com or leave a message on our store voicemail at (206) 935-5764, and I will get back to them as soon as I can.