I don’t love going to the mall, but today was the day since I had a crack on the protective screen on my phone. It was a Zagg protective covering and when the phone folks sold it to me they said I could have it replaced for a minimal cost if it should break. It cracked at a jaunty diagonal. Since I tend to avoid the mall, I put off getting it fixed. But the lady at the Zagg kiosk was really nice and it only took 20 minutes and there is a Starbucks right there. And it was kind of fun to watch all of the mall patrons walking around. What an assortment they are. There were the parents dragging their tweans around buying school clothes, teen girls with little pink Victoria Secrets Bags, a couple of businessmen in suites, the mall security folks on their Segways and moms with strollers.
Category Archives: Chain stores (there are a bunch of them)
Chamber’s Bay Whole Foods
I was pretty excited when I learned that Whole Foods was opening up a location in University Place (Chambers Bay Whole Foods, 3515 Bridgeport Way West, University Place, WA 98466). We had a Whole Foods near us (kind of) when we lived in Dallas and I’ve always enjoyed shopping there. My day to day shopping is elsewhere, but Whole Foods was a pleasure for a once in a while treat.
I went to Chambers Bay Whole Food’s grand opening with live music and free samples. It was a lively event! But yesterday I went back to see how they are doing now that the opening is over and the US Open has left town.
The good points are.
- Their employees are helpful, cheerful and knowledgeable.
- Free samples! Lots of delicious fresh fruit and even a little wine.
- There is plenty of parking and an entire underground parking lot also.
- Plenty of ‘to go’ meal options including pizza by the slice, salad bar, hot food bar, juice bar, coffee bar with adjacent bakery, a bar bar (yes, you can have beer or wine with your pizza there in the store!) and other made to order goods.
- They have a lovely Facebook Page.
- Their website is also well done.
- They have a good selection of local produce and other goods. For example there is an upcoming brewer’s night with local beer brewers.
- All kinds of products that I don’t see elsewhere.
- I love the octopus on the narrows bridge art over the cheese shop!
The less than good points are:
- Well, they are expensive. For example the leg cramp medicine my husband uses was 1/3 more expensive than it is on Amazon. Though I found quite a few reasonably priced items and some of the sale items (I love their soaps) were a steal!
- This location doesn’t carry Tom’s Shoes, which is what brought me there. In fact they have very little in the way of clothes. That’s OK, if I want clothes with my groceries I go to Fred Meyers. Though I really wanted to check the fit on the new Tom’s sneakers.
- Like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods doesn’t stock most day to day items, so if I want Pepsi or Oreo Cookies, I need to go elsewhere. They do have healthy options to sodas and sweets.
- I was looking forward to taking a class or two there and they don’t seem to be set up for that. Maybe in the future.
The good outweighs the not so good and I’m delighted that they are here.
Daiso, Bellevue
I’ve been going to Crossroads Mall in Bellevue for years, decades even, but I hadn’t realized that they have a Daiso Store. My only defense is that it has an exterior entrance. It is like a dollar store with everything being the same price (a little more than a dollar). I sent about $20 and walked away with a bunch of fairly useful stuff. There is a nice mural on the exterior wall.
An eyeball bowling ball at Bass Pro Shop
The new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Store at 7905 South Hosmer Street in Tacoma opened for business in October and its pretty great! It is huge (142,000 square feet) and full of camping, hunting and fishing merchandise. And there are some surprises including a restaurant with a full bar, a bowling alley with shark ball returns and bowling balls that look like eyes, a 12,000 gallon aquarium stocked with local fish (plenty of salmon), a boat showroom, stuffed wildlife exhibits, a lovely entry with a large fireplace and a holiday area that will soon house Santa. And outside in the parking lot there is a fire-tower. Apparently there are many Pro Bass Stores in other parts of the country, but this is the first one in Washington or Oregon.
The scent of possibilities at Yankee Candle
I needed to get in a little more walking today, so I wandered into the mall (really an unusual for me). Apparently Yankee Candle at Tacoma Mall has been there about three years! Anyway I stopped and bought a hanging, scented thing for my husband’s truck and a few of those melting wax things (really, what are they called?). The clerk at the store was a big help. I’m looking forward to pleasant smells in the immediate future 🙂
Yankee Candle has about 560 locations, mostly in malls. They are based out of Massachusetts and incorporated in 1969.
Famous Footwear
Blockbuster, Will you miss it? Last Store in Tacoma Closing
Blockbuster Video at 3833 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98418-7897 is closing. It is the last Blockbuster Video in Tacoma and once gone, the closest store will be in Kent. I use to get my dvds there and found the parking lot to be difficult to maneuver. This month (November 2013) it was announced that the remaining stores will be closing.
Paper Source, Bellevue
I was planning on spending some quality time at one of my favorite stores, The Paper Source at 700 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Sadly I ended up being in such a time constraint that I only paused to snap the one photo. The Paper Source has an abundance of very cool kits, stamps, stationary, unique trinkets and gift wrap. I’m hoping to go back soon and spend some more time!
Grocery Outlet Bargain Market
Grocery Outlet is a regional chain located in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada. The Tacoma Grocery Outlet is located at 6425 6th Avenue. It’s been a while since I’d been in and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they’ve expanded and that it was extra clean. The lady that checked me out was a peach too. They have a facebook page!
Top Foods, Tacoma
When I think of grocery stores in Tacoma, sometimes TOP Foods at 3130 South 23rd Street (Tacoma Central Shopping Center) slips my mind because its not on my daily route. TOP Foods is a small chain of 10 supermarkets, all of which are located in Western Washington. The Tacoma location has a Starbucks, pharmacy, US Bank, Chef Express, bakery (including gluten free) and DVD rentals. Haggen operates both TOP Foods and Haggan Food & Pharmacy and including the Haggan stores there are over 30 locations, making it the largest independent grocery chain in the Pacific Northwest. Haggen is based out of Bellingham, WA and began operations in 1933. In 1989, Haggen became the first grocery store chain to have an onsite Starbucks.
I picked up a huge, locally grown tomato plant for less than $3!
Update: 8/8/13 I went past Top Food today and noticed that they were closing 🙁