Yesterday I ran into Fred Meyers Market Place at ., Tacoma. It was a quick stop brought on by the need for some allergy eye drops. Fred Meyers Market Place is a nice clean, well stocked store. I’ve always thought it was interesting that there is a more traditional Fred Meyers right down the street at 4504 19th Street.
There web site is here www.fred meyer.com
Today we stopped at Hidden Treasures in The Old Trolley Building. The street address is 3902 South 12th. The store’s space was larger than I first expected and includes a lovely tea room. Hidden Treasures really is packed full of interesting items — glassware, decorative items, vintage clothes, books, etc. And the owner’s (I think it was the owner) two darling dogs were there to interact with potential buyers. I’m thinking about going back for the rooster! More about Hidden Treasure here http://www.oldtrolleybuilding.com/hidden-treasures/index.html
The building was constructed in 1890 as the Steilacoom Line Powerhouse for the Tacoma & Steilacoom streetcar line. By 1896 it was being used for railroad car storage and in1912 it was being used for commercial fuel and feed storage. In 1916 the railroad tracks were removed. In 1947 it was remodeled into the A-G Food Mart and Emmons Apartments. Other occupants have included a drugstore, meat market, salon, barbershop, paper products, hobby shop, furniture shop, lawn mower repair, sign maker, Radio & TV sales and repair, restaurant, carpet store and a preschool. More info about the building can be found here
http://www.oldtrolleybuilding.com/
So I printed out a map of a potentially lovely park in Gig Harbor and I grabbed my camera and daughter who wanted a ride and off I went. As we are crossing the Narrows Bridge I tell her that I’m going hiking and within seconds it started to hail! Well, OK then, maybe not a hike. I drop her off at the movie theater and remember that there is a Coldwater Creek in the Uptown Gig Harbor Center (4621 Point Fosdick Dr. NW,Gig Harbor, WA 98335). Great. I’ve had my eye on a scarf/vesty thing that is a requirement for the women in my generation and was waiting for a big online sale to buy it. This was my chance to look at it in person. Imagine my delight when they had it marked down from $49.95 to $29.99, and then it was 60% off! And it was a great fit. Oh happy days 🙂 I bought two (different colors). Part of one is pictured here (the pink border is part of the processing) and there is a bonus Buddha, which was at the center and I thought was cool.
From the Washington State Liquor Board website
With the passage of Initiative 1183, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) will cease state liquor store and liquor distribution operations by June 1, 2012. Contract liquor stores – which are operated by small business owners – may continue to sell spirits, but state-run liquor stores will be closed. The Seattle Distribution Center – which supplies state and contract liquor stores with spirits – and its assets will be sold.
I didn’t really go into the liquor store at Tacoma Central Shopping Center today. Come to think of it, I haven’t been in a liquor store in years! Not that I have anything against them, I just don’t seem that interested. Last time I sent in I bought some rum for a rum cake.
But I was wondering about when the stores would be closing and this was my excuse to find out.
Entenmann’s Oroweat Bakery Outlet Store at 5401 6th Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98406. has some great products and excellent prices. I stopped in and picked up some potato bread, pretzels and cinnamon bread.
Oroweat (which I always thought was spelled Orowheat) has a website with recipes here http://oroweat.com/
And Entenmann’s has a website with recipes here http://www.entenmanns.com/
Stadium Video at 29 North Tacoma Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98403-3124 is closing its doors. Today dear daughter and I went back to visit and pick up a couple of anime dvds. I remember a few years back I was stuck home for a couple of weeks during a quick recovery period and I sent my dear husband to Stadium Video every other day. They were the only ones who had the quirky, interesting movies that I needed and they always have such great recommendations! I will miss them when their gone.
An article on their closing is here http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/01/28/2003287/sad-news-for-tacoma-movie-buffs.html
Their Facebook page is here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stadium-Video/63099191351
Their going out of business sale is going to continue for a while, so go check them out!
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
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.
Photo taken later
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
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.