Heather Strock of Broadway Alley’s Canary Salon (Image: CHS)

It’s been quite some time since CHS emptied out its bin of commerce notes from around the Hill. Here’s a random walk down E Pike Street — and beyond. Have a note we should add? Let us know in comments or send mail to [email protected].

• New First Hill Chase: Chase Bank is preparing a new outlet for Madison’s Coppins Well building. The Potbelly-neighboring bank space has a near-$300,000 construction budget according to city permits.
• Broadway goes dental: Permits have been issued for construction of a new dental facility in Broadway’s The Lyric building. The new project from the 8 to 8 Dental Group and Comfort Dental DDS Thongin Ekapoj is slated to be part of the wave of retail tenants joining the building. Office Max has also begun the process of building out its new Capitol Hill store. Meanwhile, Solstice Cafe is slated to join the building’s off-Broadway retail component. The McDonald’s rumor? Not sure there’s room for it anymore.
• Canary Salon joins the Broadway Alley by CHS intern Sam Heft-Luthy: Stylist Heather Strock has spent the last few years on the Seattle hairdressing circuit, in every type of salon she can think of. This summer, Strock used her eight years of hairdressing experience to open her own ideal salon upstairs in the Broadway Alley building. Canary Salon hopes to offer a glamorous, unpretentious salon experience.“It’s really helped me cherry pick what I do and don’t like about a salon atmosphere,” Strock said of her experience working for several Seattle area salons including Kismet and Salon Ciba.Strock said she had “always wanted to be at Broadway and John,” and the space opening in the Broadway Alley building was exactly what she was looking for.“I’m one of the Cap Hill people that never leave the neighborhood,” she said.Her prices are midrange: $45 for a cut and color prices ranging from $65-120. “It’s well above a Rudy’s and well below a Gene Juarez,” she said.

  The salon itself is a small space, with a three chair set-up and a display of Paul Mitchell products for sale.

  Strock said her style philosophy is about “embracing peoples’ natural texture” to create styles that people can manage on their own, styles that can look good in the weeks between appointments and not just on the day clients come out of the salon.

  “I think it’s important that everyone loves their own hair and are capable of handling their own hair,” she said.

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  (Image: Skoah)

  Joule gains Skoah: A Canadian-based skin care shop and salon is opening in one of the open retail bays in Broadway’s Joule building. Signs are up announcing the new Skoah shop, set to be one of the company’s three planned Seattle stores. Skoah — “where personal training for your skin™ comes to life” — has seven Canadian locations, three shops in Massachusetts and recently opened its first Washington salon in Bellevue. Skoah says it also plans to open a location downtown on Pike. CHS wrote about the last injection of retail tenants in the Joule in spring 2012.

• Expanded Business Improvement Area? The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is telling constituents to expect a push for a city grant to help the merchant-centered body improve business conditions around Capitol Hill — with a focus in Pike/Pine. The grant could also help open the door to expanding the Hill’s business improvement district — currently limited to Broadway.
• 13th/Pine gym: The Collins building, under construction at 13th and Pine, has inked new restaurant project Shibumi Ramenya to be part of its retail space. We introduced you to new (to Seattle) restauranteur Eric Stapelman here. Permits are also in the works for a yet-to-be-revealed tenant’s new gym space in the building.
• ICYMI: Seattle Ferrari and Maserati paid $2.25 million for an old auto row-era garage on E Madison. Substantial has expanded into a new Pike/Broadway office. Liz Dunn’s project to bring office space to Pike/Pine is ready to dig in.
• Calling all Hill lawyers: Have a Capitol Hill legal practice? Join our new CHS Capitol Hill Legal Directory. It’s free.
• Misc: The Loveless Building at Roy and Broadway has a vacancy. Ada’s Technical Books has packed up for its move to 15th Ave E where it will expand into a brand new shop (in a familiar place) and add a cafe. Meanwhile, the brokers for the south wing of the former Broadway Blockbuster store have apparently found takers for the retail space carved out next to Mud Bay. No details yet on what is moving in.
• Bonney-Watson has opted to put its funeral business and property up for sale in Ballard but it appears its Broadway operation will continue. This spring, CHS talked with the company about its history on Capitol Hill and plans for its future on Broadway.
• NW Polite Society, an “experiential marketing company” headquartered above 11th and Pike, marked its first anniversary on Capitol Hill this month. “It has been a wonderful first year of learning, growth and new relationships. This is a time of reflection and counting of blessings… To everyone that has been a part of our beginning, we say thank you for the part you have played,” founding partner Chuck Zimmerman said in a statement. Clients include the EMP, SAM, The Crocodile, Chop Suey, Erin Air, Seattle Out & Proud, and Hunters Capital. You can learn more at nwpolitesociety.com.