The 15th/John Safeway (Image: Google Maps)
The companies behind Capitol Hill’s grocery stores will be watching as the city considers a complaint against a Seattle Safeway over the practice of closing off second entrances as the big chains try to deter shoplifters and thieves.
A “Notice of Violation” over city code was issued first in January to the 8340 15th Ave NW Safeway over a complaint about the grocery’s shutdown of one of its two entrances. Continue reading
Here’s hoping the strong window display game will continue in the space (Image: Lifelong Thrift)
It will be a smooth transition and the launch of a new Seattle nonprofit dedicated to reuse and recycling as Magpie Thrift opens on Broadway this spring.
The new store will take over the Lifelong Thrift space — and mission — on Broadway. Continue reading
Want Ladie Chablis to pour you a glass?
The Seattle drag queen is making plans to open a Capitol Hill wine shop and could use a boost.
“This will be my first retail business and I am extremely excited. As we all know starting a business involves many steps. Developing a business idea, researching for the right location and securing funding. So far I have come up with a business plan to create a retail wine store. I have decided on a legal structure to become an LLC. I have applied for my license and applied for business insurance as well. I found an incredible location on a busy street in Capitol Hill in Seattle,” Howard Russell writes in the community fundraising pitch for La Cha-Bliss Wines, a new 12th Ave wine shop being planned by the drag performer and longtime Seattleite who has been busy around the Capitol Hill community serving on the boards at GenPride, the YMCA, Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle, and Emerald City Softball Association.
Lady Chablis is still busy in the neighborhood
You can join the fundraiser here.
Russell says La Cha-Bliss Wines will be a retail boutique store that sells domestic and international wines from Washington, Oregon, California France, Italy and Germany. According to permits, the plan is for the shop to join the 1400-block of 12th Ave next to the former Barrio which is also lined up for the new Mint and Martini to fill the large restaurant space.
In the fundraising pitch, Russell says it hasn’t been easy securing funding for the project as he is ready to sink $10,000 from his 401k to reach the $30,000 launch inventory cost.
You can learn more about helping to support Russell’s effort here.
$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE THIS SPRING
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍
(Image: CHS)
(Image: CHS)
Destruction from last week’s smash and grab break-in at Capitol Hill’s The Reef pot shop is bad enough that the street remains closed to cars near the badly damaged storefront three days later. But the store’s ownership is making plans to get back to selling cannabis.
“We’re planning a grand re-opening party,” David Olivas, director of operations for The Reef stores tells CHS after a weekend of securing inventory and trying to sort out what steps come next after the city issued an emergency order limiting access to the building following Friday morning’s break-in in which a group of thieves used a car to ram the storefront, partially ripping open the 99-year-old masonry building.
Police are looking for the suspects and two SUVs reported leaving the scene and likely involved with another smash and grab in SoDo only 30 minutes after Friday’s early morning heist attempt on Capitol Hill. Continue reading
Pike/Pine’s Excelsior development was named for the Excelsior Motorcycle and Bicycle Company that at one time called its corner home (Image: Excelsior Apartments)
The Valencia Street shop (Image: Taylor Stitch)
Taylor Stitch is preparing to open its first store outside the Bay Area on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
City permits show plans for the new shop in the massive Excelsior mixed-use development on E Pine just above downtown where it will join a mix of retailers including the likes of Warby Parker, fellow fashion retailer Marine Layer, Aesop skincare, and a Seattle outlet of California’s The Pressed Juicery.
The block of retailers and businesses that call the 300 block of E Pine home in 2020 would likely amaze and confound any Capitol Hill resident of 1999. Continue reading
(Image: CHS)
When you are ready to retire from the flower business, you are ready to retire — even if you are only a few weeks from Valentine’s Day.
Flowers Just 4 U will mark its final day of business Friday after 40 years in the Central District.
Owner Mary Wesley told the South Seattle Emerald earlier this month she has been holding out hope a buyer will come along to keep a flower business going at 23rd and Cherry. Wesley said she also was invited to reopen her business on the corner after the planned affordable Acer House development demolishes the old building and finishes construction. Continue reading
(image: CHS)
Lifelong, the Seattle nonprofit dedicated to helping those living with HIV, is shutting down its thrift division. A change on Broadway is coming but the old Lifelong Thrift Shop looks like it is being set for some vintage recycling with a new thrift entity lined up for the space.
The nonprofit said it is closing its thrift division in a Monday announcement. “We hope to carry on in the same space with a new name, unaffiliated with Lifelong and will be sharing details online and in our windows as they are finalized,” the announcement reads. UPDATE: Lifelong said it pulled down the announcement to update some information included in the post and will be making a new announcement soon.
Details on the timing of the change have not yet been announced. The Broadway store was Lifelong’s only retail location.
Business license filings show a new entity lined up for the 312 Broadway E address. The new thrift shop project includes current Lifelong Thrift director Tamara Asakawa, according to the filing. Continue reading
(Image: CHS)
(Image: CHS)
Like many first-time Seattle visitors, Simon Lhopiteau was struck by the city’s natural beauty when he first visited five years ago.
“Between the mountains and the water, what I recall is being able to breathe good, fresh air,” Lhopiteau, an art historian, curator, and dealer, recently recalled. “In Paris, it doesn’t exist.”
After moving from Paris to Seattle two years later with his husband, Romain Darde, an international contract attorney at Blue Origin, the vibrant, active, and open-minded art community inspired him to open Galerie Orsay Paris-Seattle on Capitol Hill.
Located in the Loveless Building at the north end of Broadway’s commercial strip, the gallery occupies the vacated storefront occupied for 10 years by the clothing company Freeman. It’s an expansion of Lhopiteau’s Paris gallery, which he opened in 2004.
“When we were considering moving to Seattle, I thought about either getting older in my gallery in Paris or getting younger with a new adventure and a new gallery in Seattle,” Lhopiteau, 59, explained. “I chose to get younger!” Continue reading
(Image: Nook & Cranny Books)
Capitol Hill’s Nook & Cranny Books has lost its lease and is raising funds to help it find a new home.
“Nook & Cranny needs your help getting over this hurdle,” owner Maren Comendant writes. “We are pursuing small business loans for the long-term, but your support will help cover the upfront costs of a significant move: deposit and increased rent, additional shelving and furniture, and rebuilding inventory.” Continue reading
(Image: Capitol Thrill)
Just over three years of business is a pretty good run for a tiny retail operation. Sadly, the thrill is gone. Capitol Thrill has closed.
The E Pike boutique shuttered headed into the holiday break as owner Jeff Gonzales told customers about his planned closure citing the location’s expensive lease and spotty business.
“I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported my little shop over the years. Your smiles, stories and support have meant the world to me and I have treasured every moment creating a safe space for queer artists, brands and community in this incredible neighborhood,” Gonzalez said. Continue reading
