Tag Archives: 15th Ave

A passing of the torch at The Shop Agora as 15th Ave E wine shop’s manager is new owner

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From old owner to new (Image: The Shop Agora)

By Matt Dowell

The Shop Agora, 15th Ave’ Es Mediterranean food and wine shop, has changed ownership. New owner Katlynn Roumeliotis wants to continue Agora’s more-than-a-decade-long history as a neighborhood hangout with delicious pours.

“We’ll emphasize things we’ve already been doing. We’ll continue building programs like fun events and tastings.”

Roumeliotis is quite familiar with the shop and its community. She’s been with Agora since the Capitol Hill location’s opening in 2011 and has managed the shop for much of that time.

“I’ve been living and breathing the place for a long time. It’s a pretty natural evolution for me, it felt the same way for the owners, and it’s a natural progression for the shop.” Continue reading →

911 | Another Capitol Hill pot shop hit in smash and grab heist

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Capitol Hill pot shop heist: Thieves used a vehicle to bust open the front door of Capitol Hill’s Ruckus pot shop early Monday morning, ripping out the store’s ATM while grabbing some cannabis on the way, according to police. Officers were called to the E Republican scene just off 15th Ave E around 7:30 AM after a caller noticed the break-in. Thieves had reportedly cut alarm and camera wires during the heist, according to police radio updates. The latest in an ongoing plague of cannabis shop burglaries across the region, Monday’s rapid heist involved two male suspects, one wearing a reflective jacket, the other in tan and both wearing beanies, hoodies, and gloves, police say. Police did not provide a description of the vehicle used to pull open the front security gate of the shop. There were no reported arrests.

    A picture from Thursday morning’s response from the CHS Facebook Group

  • Melrose shooting response: Police and Seattle Fire vehicles filled Melrose Ave early Thursday after a reported self-inflicted gunshot incident at a nearby apartment building. Police were called to the shooting just before 4 AM. Seattle Fire was transporting the victim in critical condition to Harborview from the scene. Resources to help those in need: National suicide-prevention hotline: 800-273-8255. Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222. If you need immediate assistance, call 911.
  • Car fire threatens historic ‘double house’ — You might have woken up Thursday morning smelling smoke. Seattle Fire responded to several reported encampment and rubbish fires around the city overnight including a handful on First Hill near 7th Ave. Another blaze reported just before 6:30 AM brought a large Seattle Fire response to a reported car fire threatening a Boylston Ave “double house” structure currently being considered as a city landmark. Seattle Fire provided a larger response to the reported 1400 block Boylston car fire due to exposure to the building. We don’t have information, yet, on what damage was inflicted. There were no reported injuries. Investigators were called to the scene to determine the fire’s cause. UPDATE: The car fire behind the structure was clear of the building and quickly extinguished by Seattle Fire. The investigation on the fire’s cause continues.
 

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Mystery snow during Hill’s dry and sunny cold snap? Thank outdoor gear shop Windthrow

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It has been cold enough but snow along Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E peak is marketing not meteorology.

The small icy drifts along E Harrison just off 15th have been noted on social media including this thread on “Mystery snow in Capitol Hill” and pondered by passersby:

Bluesky user Nun Ya was on the case Monday night

What is left of the U-Haul truck’s worth of snow is the result of some fun from a local ski hotshot and Capitol Hill outdoor and gear retailer Windthrow. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s Nook & Cranny Books has lost its lease — You can help it find a new home

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(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 →

Rufous and Co. now humming with design and gift ideas on 15th Ave E

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By Emily Riehl

Holiday shoppers looking to keep their dollars in the neighborhood have a new option on 15th Ave E that also features sustainable products, accessible design services, and a commitment to causes like fighting homelessness.

Rufous and Co. in many ways is a front-end, user friendly interface for interior design — a new home decor and design shop on the street level of the new Hilltop Apartments building that serves as a fun place to shop and the start of working with owner Jim MacLean to shape Seattle living spaces.

“My design approach is very client driven. When a client has an aesthetic, I make sure it’s appropriate for the house, the architecture of the home, and I try to push them to think of things they didn’t think of before or provide them with resources that they didn’t have before,” MacLean says. “I try to make it very collaborative and keep the client thoroughly involved in the process.”

After studying design at Cornish College of the Arts, MacLean developed a strong interest in visual merchandising and spent 20 years at Nordstrom, starting as a part-time employee in college, and eventually rising to the role of a regional manager. He has collaborated with renowned brands like Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, and for nearly 24 years, has led his own design firm, working with at least a dozen clients, some including the Seattle Art Museum and Saint Mark’s Cathedral. He has contributed to in-store development and visual merchandising for companies like L’Oréal, Clarisonic, Sur La Table, and Things Remembered. Continue reading →

As $25B Albertsons and Kroger merger fizzles, Capitol Hill still has two QFCs and two Safeways

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Inside the Broadway Market QFC

A day after legal rulings blocked the proposed $25 billion agreement, the planned merger that would combine the Safeway and QFC grocery families is off leaving behind scraps of Capitol Hill paperwork and plenty of uncertainty about the future of the neighborhood’s grocery shopping needs.

Tuesday’s legal decisions included a crippling injunction issued by a federal judge following a three-week hearing in Portland over the proposed merger combining the Albertsons and Kroger companies. Albertsons says it is now backing out of the agreement and suing Kroger over its failure to secure regulatory approval for the massive merger the companies have said was necessary to address spiraling costs and competition from Walmart and Amazon.

On Capitol Hill, the multibillion dollar deal was already in motion with early maneuverings. This summer, CHS reported as a company formed by C&S Wholesale Grocers applied to assume the liquor license for the QFC grocery store in Capitol Hill’s Harvard Market shopping center. Both Capitol Hill QFC grocery stores appeared on the roster of “Planned Divestiture Store, Distribution Center, and Plant Locations” as industry giants Kroger and Albertsons promised to shed hundreds of locations as they worked toward the merger.

A $1.9 billion sale of locations would have included 579 stores across the country including 124 in Washington to be acquired by C&S, owner of the Piggly Wiggly brand that was once a staple on Capitol Hill and across the city. Continue reading →

Boost Capitol Hill’s 11th Ave arts scene at On the Block’s HOLIDAY SPECIAL marketplace

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On The Block Seattle’s inaugural HOLIDAY SPECIAL Marketplace & End-of-Year Fundraiser Celebration is Friday

To help the 11th Ave arts scene with your holiday shopping, head to 15th Ave E.

Friday night, the Quality Flea Center is playing host to On the Block Seattle’s HOLIDAY SPECIAL Marketplace & End-of-Year Fundraiser Celebration:

FRIDAY, DEC 13TH 🎉🎁🎄🎅🏾💚 Come join us for our On The Block Seattle’s inaugural HOLIDAY SPECIAL Marketplace & End-of-Year Fundraiser Celebration.🎉🎉🎅🏾🎁🎄Our first INDOORS market at the @qualityfleacenter for the holiday season!! 🙌🏽🎄💚🚧 So much space for 70+ local vendors 🤩🤩 Black Santa photobooth @blacksanta206 , raffles games, food and hot beverages, and so much more!! 💚 Join us for this special celebration!! 🎅🏾🎄🎉

Location: Indoors at @qualityfleacenter – 416 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
Market hours: 4 pm – 9:30 pm

On the Block is the organizer behind the free street market series that has filled 11th Ave with music, artists, and vendors in recent summers. OTB’s Julie-C has helped make 11th Ave a center of activity with her efforts at Blue Cone Studios, So Below, and The Study at CryBaby. On the Block organizers include Mediums Collective, Throwbacks NW, and Vermillion Art Gallery and Bar.

 

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With Capitol Hill neighborhood convenience store ShopRite gone, 15th Ave E now significantly less convenient — UPDATE

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(Image: CHS)

Things are a little less convenient around Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E. After three decades serving the neighborhood, the ShopRite cornershop has closed for good and its remaining stock and fixtures have been cleared out.

The closure comes after a long goodbye clearance sale that started this summer. ShopRite’s inventory is now the stuff of Capitol Hill legend with tales of what you could find stocked there bested only by tales of what you could not.

The 1904-era Moore Family building ShopRite has called home and the former QFC grocery store on the block are destined to make way for a planned 6-story, “S” design building with 170 new apartment units above 10,000 square feet of retail space and underground parking for 99 vehicles. Continue reading →

Lord Byron, friend and Capitol Hill explorer, remembered

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Image courtesy Cristi Russo

A map of Lord Byron’s roamings from lordbyron.pet

The King of Cat-paw-tol Hill is dead. A memorial grows at 20th and Denny to mark his passing.

Lord Byron, whose years of exploring and making this corner of the city his own earned the orange tabby a place among neighborhood royalty, was 8.

“The best thing about LB was the way he brought people together,” his family tells CHS about the cat’s passing. “It’s what we ❤️ about Capitol Hill and Seattle.”

“Also, he would want everyone to vote,” they added.

Lord Byron, it is true, often had the community and its snacks and soft couches and excellent chin scratches in mind. And Lord Byron always had an angle. Continue reading →

After five years of paperwork, ‘Master Use Permit’ issued for five-story Capitol Hill Safeway redevelopment

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(Image: Weber Thompson)

The development project to create a new Safeway grocery store and mixed-use apartment complex at the corner of 15th and John has overcome its final regulatory hurdle.

The City of Seattle issued a Master Use Permit for the long-planned project on Halloween day, records show.

The issuance is the final major step in the city’s development process for a project from developer Greystar and the Weber Thompson development team to create two new five-story buildings including a new grocery, around 330 market rate apartment units, some new, smaller retail spaces, and an underground parking lot for more than 300 cars on the Safeway property at 15th and John.

The development has been in the works for years. CHS first broke the news on the plans in 2019. Plans had called for a start of construction in 2024 and a possible 2026 opening of the project. Continue reading →