West Seattle, Washington
11 Monday
That’s the Stroller Strides class at Green Lake, warming up before participants and their young charges head out on the path for a unique bring-the-wee-ones workout that’s coming to West Seattle and offering a free class this Thursday. Kelli Currie teaches this class, which we visited last week, and will teach the one on Alki too – to check it out for free, she says you just have to show up at Alki Bathhouse on Thursday morning; sign-in starts at 10, class starts right at 10:30. You can read more about Stroller Strides at its website.
It started with a bus ride on the 37 – met at California/Alaska by West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose (in sunglasses, at left). Last night, more than a dozen concierges from downtown hotels came to The Junction to find out more about places they can recommend their guests visit. From the bus stop, they set off on foot:
Next stop, champagne at Clementine, whose owner Linda Walsh (facing the camera at left) hatched the idea with Georgia Blu owner Krista Means:
The Junction contingent got Russell Hathaway of the Seattle Hotel Concierge Association (and Hotel Vintage Park downtown) to assemble the “tour group”; along with visiting other spots (we didn’t follow the whole tour), they had dinner at Ama Ama. Interesting side note: Several of the participants said visitors thinking about moving to Seattle are the ones who most often ask questions about our side of the bay.
We told you recently about Feet First‘s Cart Project – offering discounted pull-carts like the one above to people in the Westwood Village area, as part of a pilot project to encourage people to walk to the store instead of driving. They’ve now set the pickup time – you have to live in the pilot-project area, and you should have received a doorhanger that you can bring along (see a copy of it here) – 3:30-7:30 pm today and each day next Monday-Friday, at Westwood Village QFC. You get the $90 cart for $15 if you pledge to walk at least once weekly to do grocery-shopping and agree to two surveys (initial and followup). Got questions? Call 206/652-2310. If you’re outside the pilot-project area, here’s another way to get a discounted pull-cart – as reported here a week and a half ago, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) was inspired by the Cart Project and decided to offer discounts on their “shopping trolleys” to shoppers who mention it.
The traditional WSB sponsor welcome goes out today to Village Green Perennial Nursery, featured in this month’s edition of Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as a “Community Treasure” (page 47!). Village Green is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. Owner Vera Johnson is a fully organic gardener, specializing in perennials and old roses, growing with soils blended using compost made at Village Green. Of course, organic gardening doesn’t just involve the soil – it involves the rest of the ecosystem, and Vera and her staff extend their customer service to talking with customers about natural pest management, including knowing which plants atttract the “good bugs,” which in turn keep the “bad bugs” away. Village Green, in fact, has its own bee colony and three chickens who help keep potential pests in check. The plants Vera sells are all locally grown by independent growers; she notes that means you get fresher, livelier plants that will adapt more quickly to your garden. She also wants you to know she knows gardens and gardeners, and uses that knowledge in her approach to customer service. Village Green’s nursery grounds stretch out behind the green house you see at the upper right of the photo above; it’s at 10223 26th SW (map), phone 206/767-7735, open Thursdays-Sundays – hours are on this page of the Village Green website, which has a lot to explore. We thank Village Green Perennial Nursery and all WSB sponsors, listed on this page along with information on how to join them.
We’re extending the traditional WSB welcome this afternoon to our newest sponsor, Charles Burnett. He grew up in West Seattle and currently works as an associate broker with Windermere Real Estate in The Junction, where he specializes in helping first-time homebuyers, particularly those interested in condos and townhouses. He says his buyers are interested in West Seattle for many of its most appealing attributes — great views, close to downtown, Junction nightlife. And he’s noticed that it’s become a very attractive place for people who have been out of school for a few years, are getting settled into their careers, and are ready to find a great neighborhood they can truly call home. His expertise comes from seven years of working as an agent before studying for his broker license, as well as from growing up here; when he’s not busy helping clients, he’s an avid hiker, rock-climber, boater, and snowboarder. Check out Charles Burnett’s website for info on how to reach him, and to search for properties that are on the market now. WSB thanks him and our other sponsors for choosing to grow their businesses and support ours by advertising here; they’re all listed on this page, with info on how you can join them.
At least one store in West Seattle will be open on the 4th of July (and we’re adding this to our new West Seattle 4th of July page): Hancock Fabrics; we just verified its last day in business will be July 5th – then it’s closing to make way for construction of Fauntleroy Place (groundbreaking-ceremony coverage here). When FP opens in 2010, a new Hancock store will be one of two retail tenants, along with Whole Foods. (Thanks to Marcia for the tip; she wanted to share it with fellow shoppers because she says store employees told her no more markdowns are planned — if you want something, go look now before it’s gone.)
STATION CONFIRMATION: Yesterday, we showed you the long-closed Roxbury 76 station getting fueled. Today, the state liquor-license-application site shows “Roxbury Gasoline” at that location applying for a store license to sell beer/wine. So a mini-mart’s on the way too.
FUTURE TOWNHOUSES: The city’s latest Land Use Information Bulletin includes the decision approving a five-lot “subdivision” at 4009 California, currently home to this:
A permit to build five townhouses here was issued earlier this month.
John and Frances Smersh at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in Admiral were inspired enough by news of Feet First‘s Cart Project (reported here yesterday) that they’re offering 25 percent off their stylish “shopping trolleys” — provided you mention The Cart Project when you stop in. Full details (and pix of the carts) are on the Click! blog; their hours/location can be found here.
That’s longtime West Seattle businessman Verne Valentine with (left to right in front) Janet Ives, Tina McLauchlan, and Linda Bagocki. They’re smiling but it’s not an entirely cheery time – Verne e-mailed WSB to ask that we share the news that the U.S. Postal Station that’s been at the same location as his Farmers’ Insurance office at 2237 California SW (north of Admiral) is closing next month after 25 1/2 years. He explains, “The U.S. Postal Service has drastically changed the operation parameters to the extent that Farmers Insurance Agency personnel have been forced to discontinue the association.” He says the postal annex will be ending operations July 12th but his Farmers’ Insurance office is not affected and, in fact, is expanding into the space that won’t be needed for postal operations any more.
Remember this photo from three weeks ago, when that truck crashed into Jan’s Beauty Salon on California south of Morgan Junction? The salon reopened quickly, but its owner still has interior damage to take care of (and as we reported later that day, doesn’t have insurance for it), so neighboring Chill just announced a benefit this Sunday, 10 am-2 pm.
That’s the sign on the sidewalk outside Skylark, which is throwing itself a 2nd-anniversary bash tonight (live music started at 9; we’ve always got the acts listed on each week’s West Seattle Weekend Lineup). Also worth noting, Capers in The Junction (which joined the list of WSB sponsors this week) is celebrating its 23rd anniversary with a major sale that kicked off yesterday.
When new sponsors join WSB, we offer them the chance to share a little more information than you’ll find in their ads. Tonight, we welcome Lori Wright, who’s advertising her tutoring service — The Inquisitive Mind — just as summer break is about to start. Here’s more about it: “When Lori Wright went to Whitworth College she intended to become a school counselor. Her advisors guided her toward teaching. After completing her education degree Lori started tutoring at a Bellevue agency. She enjoyed the tutoring so much that she has stayed with it for the last 16 years. Lori started her Masters in School Counseling at SPU but eventually stayed with individualized tutoring. After management experience with two different tutoring centers, Lori started tutoring privately as The Inquisitive Mind in 1997. After moving to West Seattle in 2006, she closed her office in North Seattle and began tutoring out of her new home. Her husband John is a math teacher. Lori’s focus is on working directly with students, she does not have any staff, so when you call The Inquisitive Mind you know you are working directly with Lori. She collaborates extensively with parents, teachers, school counselors, academic testing centers and others as requested by families to help assure the best opportunity for her students. This collaboration is an integral part of her tutoring service for many families. Lori considers her tutoring as the best blend of both worlds of interest to her, part-teacher and at times part-school-counselor.” You can reach The Inquisitive Mind by calling 206-763-3424 or checking out the website at theinquisitivemind.com. Thanks to Lori for choosing to sponsor WSB; if you would like to look into the possibility of doing that too, here’s the place to start (that page also includes our full current list of sponsors, all of whom thank you — as do we — for your support!).
Next door to the now-shuttered Corner Inn in Morgan Junction, some have noticed work under way at the former Beveridge Place Pub site. A permit has just been issued for some preliminary work, so we called the person listed as the project contact to find out what’s up: Paul Larkin tells WSB that he and West Seattle residents Jeff Gilbert and Matt Johnson are opening a “21-and-over restaurant and lounge,” hoping to be up and running in three to four months.
OK, maybe we were the only ones in suspense, but we had been watching the blacked-out nameboard at Tervo’s Mini-Mart on Fauntleroy and wondering if perhaps the store would change its name during its closure. Not likely given the new owners had applied for a liquor license with the store name (as noted here), but anything’s possible. Anyway, today the grand opening banner’s gone up, and the new sign is up too — same name. It had been closed for about a month, undergoing renovations as part of the ownership change (previous WSB coverage here); a development proposal for the site is still in progress too. (We reported the property for sale last year; the listing is now “expired” but county online property records don’t currently have any change in ownership listed)
We’ve mentioned several business anniversaries in the past few days – and today, we have another one — Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) is celebrating its 30th anniversary today (photo at left shows a bright blue “thank you, West Seattle” banner out front in honor of the occasion; we unfortunately missed our chance to snap a photo of their anniversary cake first thing this morning). As do many businesses that celebrate milestones like this, they’re offering customers a gift — at Illusions, today it’s 30% off all retail items.
That short video peek inside Brockey Center at South Seattle Community College might present a scene resembling the average multi-participant event … tables, booths, etc. … but today’s West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Business Expo presented more than your usual options, offering West Seattle businesses and other groups a chance to put their best foot forward (in more ways than one, as you’ll see just ahead):Read More
In the Admiral District, Revolution Coffee proprietors David “DJ” Johnson and Angie Houck threw a sidewalk party today to celebrate their shop’s third anniversary.
Meanwhile, on Alki, well-wishers were invited to sign a big old door propped up out front of Coastal Boutique, celebrating its fifth anniversary today with a beach sandbox party today. Even the littlest partygoers got to leave their mark:
That’s an SDOT crew giving a facelift to the California SW crosswalk at SW Findlay.
Not sure if it was SDOT or someone else, but there’s also been a “facelift” on that bridge column on the west side of the low bridge — and that covered the wolf art that’s been there at least since we posted about it almost a year ago. (Thanks to Patricia for the tip.)
When we did a West Seattle-wide gas-price survey last weekend, we mentioned we couldn’t include biodiesel prices because they’re not posted for drive-by viewing. The new Propel station at 35th/Barton has just changed that.
In The Junction, the Morton’s-to-Pharmaca pharmacy transition is almost complete. It’s scheduled to become official at the end of this week; as we reported two weeks ago, they’re offering freebies during the “grand opening.”
Two really big FREE events happen this Saturday in West Seattle – we’ve told you about Delridge Day at Youngstown Arts Center (11 am-4 pm) and now we have many more details about the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Biz Expo @ South Seattle Community College, 11 am-3 pm, including free workshops with experts on everything from gardening to food to fitness – read on!Read More
Every time a new sponsor comes on board, we take a moment to welcome them and let you know what their business is about. The latest is Dream Dinners, operated by Leslie Thomson (left) in Jefferson Square. It’s a solution to being repeatedly plagued by the dread question of “what’s for dinner?” when you don’t really have the inclination to make something from scratch, but a restaurant or takeout isn’t feasible either. This page on the Dream Dinners website explains “how it works” — they have the recipes and ingredients, you arrange for a session, you go home with meals to freeze till you’re ready to cook ’em. In this short clip, you’ll hear Leslie describe a few of the dishes on the DD menu (which rotates every several weeks, to offer plenty of choices):
This month’s menu continues through the end of the week; next month’s menu is previewable online too. Since Dream Dinners’ hours vary, the best way to contact Leslie to find out more is to e-mail her here: Leslie.Thomson@dreamdinners.com. Thanks to Dream Dinners for sponsoring WSB — and thanks to our other sponsors, all of whom you will find on this page, which also has info for anybody interested in joining them to grow their business and reach more customers while helping WSB be a sustainable source of 24/7 community news, information, and discussion for West Seattle.
Just realized we never wrote about Capers‘ announcement earlier this week that it’s closed its Fremont store and consolidated operations in West Seattle. In the announcement, Capers owner Lisa Myers said, “We want to refocus on one location and go back to our roots,†and added that her store’s about to celebrate its 23rd anniversary with a sale starting June 6th. Since we got that news release, multiple tips (thank you!) have noted a sign is up in Capers in The Junction saying food service is ending in the store as of next Saturday, but coffee/beverage availability will continue.
Quick update from Puget Sound Lock and Key co-owner Michael Dein, writing to the WSB Forum Community mailing list that was set up during the planning of last month’s WSBFC fundraiser for his business, closed since a still-unsolved arson attack two months ago:
I talked with the contractor who is handling fire restoration, and he estimates that we will be re-opened in 1 1/2 – 2 months. Thank you all once again for your support, I don’t think that I would have even tried to rebuild if not for the
outpouring of support and love from the community.
So says this post on the blog kept by neighboring Chill, which also mentions the pickup driver helped with the cleanup.
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