Beer Beer Beer
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Business | 2 Comments
The juxtaposition of these two articles amused me.
McMenamins coming to Bothell? City Council discussing it today
Not too long ago, McMenamins was interested in developing a hotel, pub and entertainment facility at the old seminary building at St. Edward State Park in Kenmore. The neighborhood freaked out. Opponents feared that the renovated seminary would promote underage drinking and fill the streets with inebriated motorists. Hurray for the neighborhood, they successfully chased McMenamins away.
Meanwhile, this weekend… Washington Brewers Festival is 3 days of suds in Kenmore
Get a peek at the new local beers rolling out this summer at the three-day Washington Brewers Festival in Kenmore, starting Friday.
Live music, contests and games and a children’s play area that includes a root-beer tent will be set up.
And where will this festival be taking place? St. Edward State Park, of course.
Mr. Lupori discusses Kenmore’s rejection of McMenamins in a pair of posts here:
- McMenamins Announcement Raises the Question: Why Bothell Grows and Kenmore Stagnates
- Will Kenmore EVER "Get It?" Bothell’s getting a Hotel, Pub and Theater!
Tags: beer, Bothell, Business, south-kenmore, St. Edward Park
Do they sell liquor to people that are already super wasted?
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Business, Photo/Video | No Comments Yet!
Good thing they put up those handwritten signs. Otherwise how would their potential patrons ever have figured out that this location has been closed?
Tags: Business, Kenmore Village, Liquor, photo
Best Friend Blinds Banish Free Peeks for Bothell Way Drivers
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Business | 5 Comments
A couple weeks ago, the Bothell/Kenmore Reporter ran a story that briefly mentioned the coffee stand at 73rd & Bothell Way here in Kenmore…
In Kenmore, Mayor David Baker said City Hall staffers routinely receive complaints regarding Best Friends, many coming from parents who say young children easily can see into the roadside stand. Baker said officials have discussed the issue, but declined to go into details.
“We are aware of it, we do know of it,” he said.
To me that almost sounds like some sort of veiled threat from the Mayor there. Interestingly, as I drive by Best Friend, I have noticed a slight change in the weeks since that story ran.
Pretty much since the story ran, the blinds in the windows facing Bothell Way, which used to stay open, have been closed. Coincidence? Probably not.
Looks to me like Best Friend owner Wayne Hembree caught the hidden message in Mayor Baker’s remarks to the Reporter and decided to preemptively avoid a confrontation with City Hall. Probably a good move.
Tags: Best-Friends, bikini, Business, photo
An Impending Traffic and Parking Nightmare Brewing “Downtown”
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Business | 5 Comments
On Saturday I noticed an interesting issue that I haven’t really heard anyone talking about in Kenmore, that is a bit of a problem right now and seems to be guaranteed to be a serious problem sometime in the future.
I’m reffering to the issue of parking for the James G. Murphy Co. auction house located on 68th Ave NE, just north of NE 182nd St.
Roughly once every three months or so James G. Murphy puts on a big auction at their Kenmore headquarters, complete with a major advertising push across the Seattle area. These auctions seem to usually primarily feature lots of cars, trucks, utility vehicles, boats, etc, which take up their entire fenced lot. Their advertising push always seems to be a success, with these quarterly auction events generating a large amount of interest from the deal-hungry buying public and drawing in hundreds of people from all across the Seattle area.
At around 11:00 in the morning yesterday I happened to pass down 68th avenue and 182nd street, and the scene was pretty chaotic. Cars and trucks stuffed into every possible spot (and then some) up and down both streets, lining the entirety of 182nd street and 68th avenue at least up to The Timbers apartment complex a quarter mile up the hill.
The following photos were taken at around 3:00, when—if you can believe it—much of the heavy traffic and parking overflow had actually died down.
Note that this overflow lining the streets is in addition to the completely packed former park & ride parking lot southwest of 68th and 182nd, which had the above-pictured sign indicating that it was the official parking area.
Already today the “downtown” Kenmore region is turned into a bit of a mess when James G. Murphy Co. has one of these big heavily-advertised auction events. But here’s a question that I can’t help wondering…
Where are all these James G. Murphy Co. auction attendees going to park once the Kenmore Village project finally gets off the ground and the ~350-spot former park & ride lot is no longer available?
I have a hard time imagining how the blocks surrounding James G. Murphy Co. will avoid degrading to complete mayhem once this occurs. Picture a traffic backup extending out onto SR-522 in both directions for the better part of the day and parked cars lining every street within a mile radius, crammed right up against residential and business entrances to the streets such that motorist visibility entering the road is virtually destroyed.
Does James G. Murphy Co. have a plan for this eventuality? Is the city working with James G. Murphy Co. to develop a workable plan for this situation before it completely cripples the city some Saturday in the future?
It seems like this is something more people should be talking about now, before the inevitable day of reckoning arrives.
Tags: central-kenmore, Kenmore Village, Murphy-Auction, parking, traffic
Kenmore Village Exodus Continues
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Business | 2 Comments
As noted a few days ago over on Kenmore Blog.net, Kenmore’s branch of The Little Gym, currently located between the old Ostrom’s location and the Liquor Store in Kenmore Village, is leaving Kenmore for apparently greener pastures up in Lynnwood.
For those of you keeping score at home, the departure of The Little Gym in the next month or so will leave the commercial space (i.e. – not counting City Hall) in the city-owned Kenmore Village property over half empty, with five of nine storefronts vacant. By square footage, the commercial space will be just under half empty.
Businesses that have moved or gone out of business, leaving Kenmore Village in the last year or so include:
- Ostrom’s Drugs – drugstore – moved to 6414 NE Bothell Way
- The Little Gym – children’s gym – moving to Lynnwood
- Hidden Treasures – thrift store – closed
- Reign’s Realm – children’s clothing & supplies consignment store – closed
- Taco Guyamas – fast food mexican restaurant – closed
Here’s a map of Kenmore Village in its current state (click to enlarge):
Eventually as I have the time, I will be expanding this map to include all of Kenmore’s business zones. Your input is welcome.
Tags: Business, Kenmore Village, map
