A couple of Bellingham businesses had soft openings this month.
Avenue Bread opened its James Street location on Friday, July 18, in the former Our House Deli & Catering space. Dropping in on opening day, it had the look of the Railroad Avenue/Fairhaven spaces to me, with two big differences: A lot more elbow room and a full-service kitchen.
With the kitchen in place, it allows Avenue Bread a chance to offer other dishes with its bread, including eggs, omelets and French toast. The business, owned by John and Wendy DeFreest, also offers a variety of sandwiches, salads and soups for lunch.
It’s been a very busy time for Mari and Will Kemper, who opened Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen at 601 W. Holly St. on Friday, July 11. They tried to be quiet about their opening, but Mari Kemper said she was overwhelmed by the response.
“I was surprised by the number of people that found out we were open, but I guess I shouldn’t be with a brewery,” she said.
Kemper said they are starting with six beers and will be rotating in other brews. In the first year, the brewery will have the capacity to make 1,000 barrels of beer annually. Right now the business is opening at 11:30 a.m., offering lunch and dinner.
CLOSURE UPDATE
We’re halfway through 2008, and it’s been a busy year for Whatcom County business closures.
I keep a list of business closures I’ve heard about, so it’s by no means an official source, but at this point I’ve seen 41 businesses either close or announce they are closing. In 2007 I spotted 31 Whatcom County businesses that shut down, which was about the same as 2006.
Of the 41 listed so far this year, 30 were small businesses that had local ownership, usually where it’s the owner behind the counter, running the business. Many of those 30 were situations where they were closing on their own terms, either by retiring or deciding to do something else. Of course, there are also ones who cited slow sales as a reason to close down.
OTHER TIDBITS
Locally owned Spice Hut has teamed up with another locally owned company, The Woods Coffee, to sell its loose-leaf teas at all seven Woods’ coffee shops. The teas come from all over the world with a variety flavors from orange rooibos to sweet pineapple green tea.
Bakerview Square appears to be getting a couple more tenants. A tenant improvement permit application has been filed at the city of Bellingham for Scodeller Chiropractic to go into one of the spaces. The Bakerview Square Web site also lists Choices Home Health Store as a potential new tenant.
Troy Muljat, one of the developers for Ferndale Station retail center, reports that construction of the 43,000-square-foot retail center near the Ferndale Haggen supermarket is on schedule, with a completion date planned for December and tenant openings in January. Confirmed tenants are Sonic Drive-In, The Woods Coffee, Thrive Fitness, Wells Fargo and Dollar Tree. Muljat said they are finalizing agreements with a few other tenants, including another restaurant.