Vinotique at 7304 Lakewood Drive West in Lakewood, is in the same center as Tacoma Boys. Per the owner, they are in their 25th year of operations! They have a wonderful wine selection and plenty of cheeses, but what I didn’t expect is that they serve deli meals. On Friday nights they serve tapas. Their website is here and their Facebook page is here.
Update: Toward the end of 2014, Vinotique’s owners retired and the store closed.
Noel’s House of Bricks at Freighthouse Square has a darling snowman in their window. The space is at 2501 E D st Tacoma Wa #46 and they recently opened for business. I was there just before the center closed and House of Bricks wasn’t open, as they clearly stated on their Facebook Page. This is their second location with the first being in Olympia.
There is Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Shop Small (Small Business) Saturday. I had a list of Small Business places to go, but it was dear husband’s birthday and our lunch at 208 Garfield took longer than we expected. After lunch we explored Garfield Books, then walked down the street to Hobby Town at 402 Garfield. We closed the outing at Pacific Coffee Co.
This is the third year for Small Business Saturday and I believe that it is an important reminder to support our local business that so often give back to the community. I plan to do more local shopping.
I loved all of the model planes hanging from the ceiling of Hobby Town and the people working there were so nice.
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.
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!
The Tacoma Studio Tours happened on a rainy, windy weekend but I was determined to go to at least some of them. Tinkertopia at 1914 Pacific Avenue is really delightful and it would be easy to spend a great deal of time here, but not a great deal of money since everything is so reasonably priced. To get a sense of the place, check out the photos below and the website which has plenty of links to articles and a free mini poster! Tinkertopia is a Spaceworks Project and when their Spaceworks funding expires they will be able to continue with the generous support of University of Washington, Tacoma.
I met a dear friend at the Hub for dinner and while waiting for her I stopped into Bleach at 1934 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma in the University of Washington Tacoma area. They really had some nice, original t-shirts and I’m hoping to go back and pick up a few. They have a bunch of other great clothes too. Their website is here. They also have a nice selection of skateboards.
A quick stop on the way home tonight to pick up grilled meat from Stadium Thriftway’s outdoor Fridays grill. It’s a great take home option.
I’ve been meaning to visit Tai-Li Market Fiine Ethnic Foods & Deli at 7046 South Park for a while and now I guess its too late because they are closed and the store is mostly empty. The building was constructed in 1927 as the Kubick Grocery and in 1980 it was the Phil-Mars Television & Appliance. We’ll see what it becomes next.
Burdic Feed at 7710 Waller Road has been vacant for as long as I can remember. Though a quick internet search shows that it was Anna’s Party Rental for a time. Public record shows that the store was constructed in 1944.
