Monthly Archives: January 2012

1601 6th Avenue

The barrel truss building at 1601 6th Avenue in Tacoma was constructed in 1929 and contains 7,600 square feet. When it opened it was the Raudenbush Motor Co. / Gas-Way-Inn and in 1942 it became the Gunnar’s Grocery, Store No. 2. In 1951 it became a Shop Rite Food Center. The listing page shows that it is currently mostly leased by Trinity United Presbyterian Church http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=5466

Toadilly Scappin’

My friend took me and dear daughter to Toadilly Scappin’ at 6820 Kimball Dr., Ste 7, in Gig Harbor for a card making workshop. I was a tad worried about it since I am not especially good at things like this. But each of the five cards came in its own little baggie and there was a picture of how it should look and the great teacher was upbeat and great at guiding us through the steps, especially considering the students were at all different levels. Besides being pretty much useless at tying bows, I did alright. There are all kinds of wonderful papers and other scrap-booking supplies at the store and we walked away with less than we wanted and more than we planned

http://toadillyscrappin.com/

Better Living Through Alchemy, 1022 South

I’ve been wanting to go to 1022 South in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma for ages and today was the day. They have happy hour from 4 to 8 everyday and their prices were very reasonable for the quality. I treated myself to a hot mulled cider with brandy and it was very wonderful. We also had some small plates that were delicious. We made an agreement to go back soon because they had many other delicious looking drinks and it is a great place to unwind after a long work week. My one small complaint was it was such a small space and pretty much packed.

Their website is here 1022south.com/

Fulcrum Gallery

The Fulcrum Gallery at 1301 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Tacoma, is a small gallery featuring quality artists and this evening they had a reception for their new exhibit “Dawn of 2012”. There was a wide breath of different types of art. My dear daughter and I especially liked the lovely drawings by Meghan Mitchell and cloud floating houses of Gabriel Brow.

http://www.fulcrumtacoma.com/

 

Photo taken later

The lights are off at Tacoma Lighting

I’d always planned to stop at Tacoma Lighting at 1301 Center Street in Tacoma. Now I guess I never will, because the store is vacant and available for sale. First Western is asking $1,050,000 for the property, which is 11,685 square feet of building area and was constructed in 1968. The listing can be found here http://commercialmls.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=property.detailFSprint&ln=497406&eofficeid=

The current building has always been owner occupied by Tacoma Lighting. Back in 1890, the property was the site of the Aesche Boots & Shoes store. To see that wood frame building go to this Tacoma Public Library page http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=3&n=12544&i=9666#text

Payless Shoes has walked out of the building

I went to our vet last week because our two dogs were playing too hard and one of them needed stitches. The vet sent me away for a couple of hours while they worked their magic. I went next door to Payless Shoes at 5914 6th Avenue, Tacoma, to check out their going out of business sale. There was very little merchandise left. When I went back to the vet on Tuesday to pick up a second plastic collar, Payless was completely out of the building. I have no strong feelings about Payless Shoes, but it does make me sad to see another empty building in Tacoma. I wonder what will go in there and when.

It’s the Year of the Dragon

What luck! The family decided to get out of the house today and each of us picked a place to go. Dear daughter wanted to go to Uwajimaya in the International District of Seattle. When we got there we learned that it is the Chinese New Year and they were having special events, such as a dragon parade. While we were there was grabbed lunch in the food court and picked up some groceries (pocky, drinks, fortune cookies). Uwajimaya is a wonderful store, which is full of treasures. It actually started in Tacoma, but when the US entered WWII the family was sent to Tule Lake Internment Camp in California. After the war, they felt more welcome in Seattle and settled themselves and their new store there. It was a loss for Tacoma! It is the largest Japanese grocery store in the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.uwajimaya.com/

   

Community Health Care at Eastside Medical Clinic

The Community Health Care Center is located at 1708 East 44th Street, Tacoma, WA 9840 in the Salishan Housing Development. Per their website “Community Health Care is a private, non-profit organization created in 1987 when the clinical system moved from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department after several years of operation by that organization.” I toured the building and was very impressed with the building and the doctors and other staff that I meant. Community Health Care provides medical and dental services, as well as a pharmacy. The theme that I heard repeatedly was quality care with patient dignity.

Their website is here http://www.commhealth.org/