West Seattle, Washington
11 Monday
We traveled from Admiral to The Junction tonight to check out the late-night shopping and West Seattle Art Walk happenings; above you see the biggest crowd we encountered, jammed into the new Twilight Art Collective space in the former Bikes ‘n’ Brew storefront west of Easy Street. Classic dance rock (example: Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”) thumped through the cheerful conversation din. We’ll go back soon for a more leisurely look at the art (such as a Kafka portrait that caught our eye). Twilight looks like a great addition to the funky side of Junction life. Though we didn’t get to The Junction till after 8 pm, we noticed good turnouts elsewhere, including a hive of shoppers buzzing around a sale table outside Clementine.
One last reminder that it’s late-night shopping night at a variety of West Seattle shops — 
from Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor; read more about their event here) and Shanti in the Admiral District, throughout The Junction for the “Wrap It Up” event (flyer with participants here; plus, it’s also West Seattle Art Walk night), and over to Avalon (where Murphy’s has a special fundraiser/shopping event tonight). Some stores will be open as late as 10. (And if your shopping tonight will include Christmas tree-hunting, you can check the price survey we posted earlier this month; we hope to update it this weekend in case things have changed.)
Got holiday shopping left to do? Tonight you can shop throughout The Junction, and even get your presents wrapped, as part of “Wrap It Up” — More than a dozen businesses are open late (including the participants listed on the official flyer, which you can see here (linked from the Clementine blog). While you’re in The Junction, the monthly West Seattle Art Walk 
will deck the halls — be sure not to miss Divina, Ginomai, and Hotwire on the north end. (Participating artists and venues are listed here.) And in the heart of The Junction, Twilight Art Collective is welcoming visitors into its new space (ex-Bikes and Brew, west of Easy Street; here’s our original report on them from last month). And this isn’t even all that’s happening in WS tonight – more on that as the day goes by.
Latest step in the remodeling of West Seattle’s one ‘n’ only KFC, er, Kentucky Fried Chicken (part of the new decor involves reviving the full name) — sign shown above says it’s shut down till Friday.
Or maybe even your mom’s. Back when we moved here in the early ’90s, really not THAT long ago, we lamented that we would have liked to do more shopping in The Junction, but everything seemed to close so early — “rolling up the sidewalks,” as the small-town saying goes. Not these days, and here’s the latest proof: Coinciding with this Thursday night’s West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction is “Wrap It Up,” with participating stores open well into the night for holiday-shopping fun. And it’s not just The Junction that will be jumping — on the north side of West Seattle, we’ve heard from more shops planning to be open late on Thursday, including WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits and Shanti in the Admiral District, and along Avalon, Murphy’s Furniture Studio has an event planned Thursday night for late-night shopping while raising money for GambiaHELP. All in all, Thursday’s a good night to spend your $ where you live. Here’s the “Wrap It Up” flyer listing Junction participants, by the way:Read More
Joining WSB today as our latest sponsor: John Moore, with Northwest Insurance Group (south of the Admiral District, at 3210 California), an independent agency dealing with a variety of insurance companies including the ones listed on this page of the Northwest Insurance Group site. As we do with all new sponsors, we wanted to publicly thank John for supporting WSB, along with our other sponsors (all listed on our “Advertise” page, where prospective advertisers can find information on how to join them).
A new development three weeks after we first wrote about Nucor‘s application for permits to upgrade a crane. When we first heard about it, thanks to an eagle-eyed WSB reader, time for public comment was already running out, and a note on the public posting said a hearing would be scheduled only if there was “significant public interest.” Looks like somebody subsequently expressed that level of interest; Trissa just e-mailed WSB (thank you!) with word that a public hearing is now set for January 9 @ Alki Community Center (more details here), plus a note that the time for public comment has been extended to January 14 (more on that here). We’ll add both dates shortly to our ever-growing West Seattle-wide Events page.
THIS IS OUR 2007 PRICE CHECK – FIND OUR WEST SEATTLE 2008 LIST HERE
Just back from making the rounds of every West Seattle Christmas tree seller we know of. (If we missed one – we’ll admit to not checking arterials east of Delridge to look for indies – please let us know and we’ll get out to scout it.) We chose a couple representative tree sizes for comparison’s sake – 5-6′ Noble Fir, 6-7′ Noble Fir, 5-6′ Douglas Fir. Here’s what we found, north to south, including any special notes – caveat, this is from an in-person survey conducted today; pricing changes certainly could happen before you make your tree-shopping trip:Read More
Right on schedule, this truck was spotted this morning at one of the ex-Gee/Huling lots, picking up remaining vehicles; today is the day by which the Gees agreed to completely clear out, as per the agreement reached in the Hulings’ lawsuit to evict them for not paying rent. The Gees’ suit against the Hulings, meantime, goes on; most recent development reported here was a judge’s denial of the Hulings’ motion to force the Gees into arbitration, promptly appealed by the Hulings.
Exterior work is under way right now at the ex-Coyotes, finally confirmed firsthand to be the future home of Pegasus Pizza (whose original location next door will be torn down for a new building). The beige-ish panel actually features marbling much like the current Pegasus decor. Meantime, we talked to a worker outside the future Alki Urban Market – he said he had no clue when they’ll be opening; and down the street at the ex-Alki Mail/Dispatch, future Pioneer Coffee Roasting Co., someone’s inside working on a huge PIONEER sign. As for the water side of the street, a couple scenes from our breezy, chilly walk:
This morning, we welcome another new WSB sponsor – Square 1 Books, which is the place in West Seattle 
to buy new books from an independent bookseller. Square 1 is in Jefferson Square, steps from the rest of The Junction, and part of the heart of the West Seattle community — this weekend, as we mentioned yesterday, Square 1 is offering the chance to buy new children’s books at 15% off and have them given to local families through WestSide Baby. This past September, Square 1 sponsored an event for West Seattle readers to meet West Seattle authors, “Words from the West Side,” held at ArtsWest. And it’s got its own book club – you can keep up with its happenings via the Square 1 blog. Thanks to Square 1 and our other sponsors, who are listed on this page along with information on how other prospective advertisers can join them.
This weekend is going to be the biggest holiday bash ever in The Junction, and we are thrilled that the West Seattle Junction Association has chosen to advertise on WSB to make double-extra-triple-sure you know about Hometown Holidays (joining our other fabulous WSB sponsors — Hotwire Coffee and Garlic Jim’s Pizza in The Junction, Click! Design That Fits in the Admiral District, local Realtor Bill Barna, and local Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist Rhonda Porter.) As the holiday season really gets into swing, we’ve already brought you previews of the two-day Hometown Holidays celebration – including last week, when we alerted you that the WSJA website had posted new details, including word of a new location for the official West Seattle Christmas Tree (which will be lit during a don’t-miss ceremony at 6 pm Saturday). Now the fun is just days away: Noon-7 pm Saturday, 10 am-5 pm Sunday. Here are even more details (see you there!):Read More
As you head out today, to the Farmers’ Market perhaps, or just to enjoy the sunshine, you might want to poke your head inside some of your favorite West Seattle shops. We’ve started to hear from more stores planning special events during the holiday shopping season (like the early-early-bird Black Friday sale we covered @ Friends & Company); to name just a few, Husky Deli is having a holiday open house 5-9 pm next Friday (11/30) that’s also a 75th anniversary celebration (historic photos here); much-appreciated WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits in the Admiral District is planning December “Late Night Thursdays” with treats on 12/6, 12/13, and 12/20 where they’re staying open till at least 8 pm (or longer; “we just hang around until people leave,” Click! co-owner Frances Smersh told WSB); less than a block from Click!, Shanti Salon and Spa has a holiday open house with refreshments 6:30-8:30 pm Thursday 12/13; the Junction Association says a variety of retailers are planning promotions during Hometown Holidays next weekend; between Admiral and Alaska Junctions, Saturday night shopping parties are the plan at basic green box, with wine and cheese. We’re going to drop by as many WS businesses as possible to keep track of what’s planned for the holiday season, but with so many of them, we’d also love to hear from local retailers directly, and from shoppers who hear about upcoming events. E-mail or call us; here’s all the contact info.
So a particular chain retailer at Westwood Village had this incredible laptop deal. Got there when they opened at 6 am … 100 people in line, plotting near-military strategy for bargain reconnaissance. We retreated. Friendlier crowd at the one Junction store that opened its doors at 5 am, the rubber-stamping store Friends and Company, where we caught up with proprietor Doris Goulet and her early-bird shoppers during the first half-hour:
Nobody camping outside West Seattle’s early-opening chain stores when we checked late last night (just the big cart lineup outside Westwood Village Target, shown above). But they’re not the only ones opening early (Target 6 am, Bed Bath Beyond 6 am, Radio Shack 6 am, for example) — some independent retailers are getting creative too, like Friends & Company in The Junction, which is coupling a 5 am opening today with free early-bird eats and a tiered sale, starting at 40% off between 5-6 am. But there’s time to pace yourself — from today through Christmas Eve, 32 shopping days this year, and lots of new choices (as well as existing faves) for keeping your $ here on the peninsula.
Several people have e-mailed WSB to ask about this – wondered about it ourselves – and finally we have the answer: The ex-Bikes & Brew (etc.) spot in The Junction, just west of Easy Street, will be the new West Seattle home of Twilight Artist Collective — here’s what Erin Crawford tells us about Twilight:Read More
WSB reader Julia called this to our attention. We have not been able to do a lot of research on it but wanted to let you know about it before it’s too late, in case you are interested in having a say: Nucor Steel is upgrading one of its cranes, to boost production, and because that could increase emissions of carbon monoxide and a variety of other components (details in this notice), Nucor has to get permits from the state Ecology Department and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. Both are recommending approval; the deadline for public comment is tomorrow (the notice was apparently posted almost a month ago; as a result of this, we’ve learned about a new place to check for important public notices!), although it appears from the second part of a posting on this site that one piece of the project is open for comment until 12/12. Both these notices say a public hearing will be held only if there is “significant public interest” — contacts to express said interest can be found on the links.
This just in, minutes after our update about holiday grocery-store hours: According to this press release, Metropolitan Market is debuting “REbag,” a reusable shopping bag — you can get one free if you spend at least $50 — and plans a big launch event at the Admiral store Wednesday morning featuring nearby-dwelling Mayor Nickels.
(THIS IS A 2007 POST – OUR 2008 INFO FOR WEST SEATTLE IS ON THE HOLIDAYS PAGE)
Still working on the list of “where you can get your latte on Thanksgiving,” but we have the West Seattle supermarket holiday hours nailed down so we thought we’d pass them along: PCC will be closed, Metropolitan Market will be open till 2 pm, Thriftway will be open till 4 pm, QFC till 6 pm, the Safeways say it’s 24-hour business as usual.
There was a time you didn’t hear much about the mortgage business unless you yourself were in the process of getting one. Then – times changed. But the latest 
West Seattle businessperson to join the WSB sponsor ranks has a clear, authoritative, helpful voice that has emerged from the middle of it all: Rhonda Porter, CMPS (Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist), who has gained local and national attention with her blog The Mortgage Porter. It’s a place not just to find information such as her weekly Friday Mortgage Rate Update (last Friday’s edition here) but also background information and context (check the left sidebar for “Favorite Mortgage Posts” such as How to Pick a Lender, and a group of posts explaining specific mortgage programs). Rhonda also contributes to the respected regional real-estate blog Rain City Guide. You can reach Rhonda at 206-718-9488 or by e-mail (click here). This Thanksgiving week, we are thankful for Rhonda Porter and for Hotwire Coffee and Garlic Jim’s Pizza in The Junction, Click! Design That Fits in the Admiral District, and West Seattle Realtor Bill Barna, our first fabulous WSB sponsors; here’s how to join them. (And we are thankful for YOU and all our fabulous WSB visitors/readers/contributors/participants, too!)
Last time we asked for RRRs on house-cleaning services, we paired it with an unrelated request which stirred up most of the discussion and stole the spotlight. Now with holiday guests looming, we have a new RRR on the topic — Lisa is looking for a house-cleaning/maid service based in, or willing to come to, West Seattle. Please leave your recommendation as a comment; previous RRRs and responses are archived here.
The auction is over, the first ex-Huling employee verdict is in, but the court fight over who’s to blame for the dealership failure continues: Latest development in the Gee vs. Huling lawsuit (full lawsuit document linked from here), according to the newest publicly downloadable court documents, is this — 
King County Superior Court Judge Harry McCarthy has ruled against the Hulings in their contention that the dispute with the Gees should go to arbitration rather than court because of terms in their original dealership sale agreement. (The judge wrote “… the dispute falls outside of the arbitration provision in the parties’ contract”; read the ruling here.) So now the Hulings are taking it to the state Court of Appeals. (Read the “notice of appeal” here.)
First one has to do with the doomed building shown above (future home of a 3-story commercial building plus townhouses), which, as we first wrote in April, we have a soft spot for. Big green signs in its window today announce a “moving sale” this weekend for the martial-arts studio that’s been the storefront’s most recent tenant; we found more about the sale online.
Second note: Across the street and to the south from the aforementioned moving sale, the city seems to still be having trouble getting the ex-Chuck and Sally’s Tavern to comply with the rules regarding not using the property as a parking lot; this page says it’s failed two inspections and now is under a warning to comply by 11/30, or else.
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