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Now open: Broadway OfficeMax

20475353i_01Broadway’s 97 Cent Store era has ended. Tipster says its OfficeMax era has begun. The new store in the Lyric building at 230 Broadway E is open.

We broke the news on the retailing giant’s Broadway plans here in August:

The previous building and lot were demolished in 2011. Former tenants Noah’s Bagel – in its Einstein Brothers format — and Bank of America have returned to the block once the project is finished. Cafe Septieme shuttered several months before its building was torn down, never to return.

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Lord Chalmley
Lord Chalmley
10 years ago

Oh thank GOODNESS! I’ll finally have someplace purchase pink “while you were out” steno pads and rolls of paper for my state-of-the-art fax machine.

Susanna
Susanna
10 years ago
Reply to  Lord Chalmley

I used both of those things today… What does that mean about my life??!

Hot tip
Hot tip
10 years ago

OfficeMax is a large Republican campaign donor both locally and nationally. Avoid & boycott.

http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/officemax-inc/36242937aac74a44a75ef3559ce67746

Bryan
10 years ago

Oh joy, oh rapture! Broadway’s transformation into a Republican strip mall is nearly complete.

Can someone remind me why I chose to someplace which increasingly resembles Arizona, at five times the price and half the daylight?

JayH
JayH
10 years ago
Reply to  Bryan

Um, Top Pot?

Ryan
Ryan
10 years ago
Reply to  Bryan

As was said, Top Pot. Legal marijuana. No Sheriff Joe. You are much, much less likely to melt into the sidewalk in June/July/August. More variety of food.

But, hey. If a chain store (whom I don’t agree with, admittedly) opening up bursts your bubble that bad, knock yourself out.

And, really. Septieme closed YEARS ago. Can we stop eulogizing it yet, or is this another “never forget” thing like 9/11 ?

Ryan on Summit
Ryan on Summit
10 years ago
Reply to  Ryan

There is a misunderstanding of the difference between eulogizing a *specific place* and eulogizing the environment that the specific place was able to exist in. The latter is gone. Broadway is less interesting a place by the day.

Rich
Rich
10 years ago
Reply to  Ryan on Summit

If Cafe Septieme is anyone’s idea of great food on Capitol Hill they had some pretty low standards. The food was boring and bland and the service was terrible. The Office Max is a huge improvement. At least now I can get ink for my printer with just a short walk.

Ryan on Summit
Ryan on Summit
10 years ago
Reply to  Rich

Read my comment.

calhoun
10 years ago
Reply to  Rich

Before Septieme, it was old-school Andy’s Café, which was a great place to eat, as long as it was just for breakfast. I miss it.

calhoun
10 years ago

This business is an easy target to bash and lament “all the chain stores on Broadway.” But the fact is that they have a lot of useful products, and many people will patronize the place.

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
10 years ago
Reply to  calhoun

Not to mention— if an independent office products store opened up, most of those whining would probably pass up shopping there for one of the chain stores with lower prices anyway.

dave
dave
10 years ago
Reply to  Jim98122x

No, we simply don’t need office supplies.

Wes
Wes
10 years ago

I can’t understand why so many Americans think old and decrepit equates character. When I moved here Capitol Hill was cool, but honestly looked old and lacked variety. With the new buildings it has more variety of buildings a more diverse array of restaurants and just feels like a more complete neighborhood. Not everyone wants to go to a dive bar and shoot up in an abandoned house or empty parking lot every night. That’s still possible, but now I can also eat a wider variety of food in restaurants that are actually clean. There’s more clubs and more shops too.

Ugh.
Ugh.
10 years ago
Reply to  Wes

And I can’t understand how folks like you like consistently oversimplify the issue. This is not about wanting to shoot up in an abandoned lot. Way to trivialize peoples’ actual concerns. It is about preserving what is unique about various neighborhoods. I actually have nothing against say, Bellevue, but I don’t understand why everywhere has to be Bellevue. The problem with this sort of gentrification is that it often leaves no room for diversity in terms of the sort of businesses we see and the kind of people who live in a neighborhood. Sure, there are more shops and more clubs, but I would argue that they’re all the same type of shop and club. Was abandoned lots and junkies all the old Capitol Hill was to you? Because for a lot of us, it was about community, affordable housing, cool public art, cozy coffee shops, funky little bars, knowing you could be walking down the street and get caught up in something fun and weird and hilarious. Things change and I get that, but lets be real about what has actually changed. And who are these Americans that think old and decrepit equal character? Pretty much no Americans think that or have any value for the past, which is why our cities constantly bulldoze history to put up shiny things. Why do so many Americans think that glass boxes indicate progress? That is the real question in my mind.

SMAJ
SMAJ
10 years ago
Reply to  Ugh.

Thank you Ugh for stating very clearly what goes through my mind every time I read a comment from someone defending what is happening to Capitol Hill.

Lee
Lee
10 years ago
Reply to  Ugh.

Thank you – you’ve said exactly what many of us feel. And this is to the other commenter – old unsafe unused buildings should absolutely be made into something better. However, there have been perfectly good historic brick buildings destroyed and replaced by quickly build ugly generic looking ones with zero character and completely overpriced. There’s many parts of Europe, for instance, that do their best to preserve the look and feel of these old buildings. Also, some of the most interesting neighborhoods in this world are areas with economical and social diversity, and without the large-box chain stores. Capitol Hill is not Renton or Bellevue. Why people loved Capitol Hill was because it wasn’t the suburbs, because there were artistic and creative types, because there were small businesses.

Ugh.
Ugh.
10 years ago
Reply to  Lee

Thank YOU! Sometimes I feel so alone on here. Thus my handle, Ugh. Because I noticed that was what I was saying every time I read the comments.

calhoun
10 years ago
Reply to  Ugh.

There are still plenty of cozy coffee shops (Vivace is a good example), public art, funky little bars (Witness), etc…..they are just newer and cleaner. And there is affordable housing too, if you just care to look for it (Seattle Housing, Seattle Senior Housing, Capitol Hill Housing, etc.).

Capitol Hill is a more wonderful neighborhood now. It is a far cry from Bellevue or Renton.

Drawlisp
Drawlisp
10 years ago
Reply to  calhoun

I’ll link here to the waitlist times for Seattle Housing.

http://www.seattlehousing.org/news/email/housinginsider/EstimatedWaitTimes.pdf

Hint: it’s measured in YEARS. Capitol Hill is NOT a more wonderful neighborhood. It’s where the affluent come to feel cool and now they run the place.

Ugh.
Ugh.
10 years ago
Reply to  Drawlisp

Exactly. I always remember when Brix was built. They had this big sign up to entice prospective renters. I think there was like a picture of an arty girl with dreads drinking coffee or something like that. And it was just so absurd. Like “Yes future condo dwellers, come hang in the hip neighborhood (and run all of these people out of it).” People came here to slum it, decided they didn’t like the “slum” after all and just condoed right over it.

Ugh.
Ugh.
10 years ago
Reply to  calhoun

Okay, I think I have figured this out. Your answers on here are so entirely out of step with reality that it consistently boggles my mind. So I think what is going on is that you live in some alternate universe in a neighborhood also called Capitol Hill, but through some wormhole, somehow we are communicating through this website. Which is pretty cool actually. So I am going to focus on that.

ERF
ERF
10 years ago
Reply to  Ugh.

Why are you attacking and insulting Calhoun just because your opinion this subject is different?

chs fan
chs fan
10 years ago

Anyone remember when that site was home to Torrey’s Eggcetera on Broadway? That place was great.

SMAJ
SMAJ
10 years ago
Reply to  chs fan

Hahaha! Thanks for the flashback! It’s funny because there are no pictures from those wonderful days. We weren’t busy taking and posting pics of the places we hung out at and the food brought to our table, we were just living our lives and allowing memory to decide what to hold onto.

Just off the top of my head, I’m walking down the east side of Broadway and I’m seeing Al’s Diner, Broadway Grill, Ileen’s/Ernie Steele’s, Septieme, Bailey Coy Books, Rocket Pizza, Orpheum Records, the Elite Tavern. And those are a handful of places all on the east side of Broadway. All small independently owned businesses. This was a street where a Burger King went out of business because no one would go to it.

Welcome Office Max!

Janet
Janet
10 years ago
Reply to  chs fan

Eggcetera! Yes, that takes me back. I’m so old I remember when Rite-Aid was still a movie theater.

Tim
Tim
10 years ago
Reply to  Janet

In 1989, I saw Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” at that theater. Then in 1990, it is a drugstore.

calhoun
10 years ago
Reply to  chs fan

As I remember it, Eggscetera occupied the space immediately south of the old BOA, adjacent to that small plaza area. It was a very nice place.

Janet
Janet
10 years ago
Reply to  calhoun

Yup! Really nice place. I also remember Andy’s Café in the early 80’s…what a dive, but always good for a $3.00 breakfast. Ernie Steele’s was close by, and gosh…ha ha ha…big dusty mooseheads on the wall and drinks so strong they raised the dead. Times change, but it’s still “Capitol Hill” to me, and I’ve lived here [more on than off] since 1975.

Janet
Janet
10 years ago
Reply to  Janet

Regrets; calling Andy’s Café a dive. It was actually clean as a whistle, but the prices made me say “dive”.

Jeff
10 years ago

They can’t extend the light rail to Bellevue, so they’re going to bring Bellevue to the light rail!

umvue.blue
umvue.blue
10 years ago

This downhill trend all started with the introduction of moveable type. Fuck Gutenberg!