This longtime Bellingham restaurant is expanding into the north part of the city
Here’s a roundup of recent retail activity around Whatcom County:
▪ The longtime local restaurant company Jalapenos Family Mexican Restaurant is adding a new location. It announced on social media that it will be going into the former El Patron building at 4451 Meridian St., near Walmart.
Owner Jesse Cantu said in a phone interview that they are currently going through the permitting process to do some remodeling and hope to have the space ready around mid-September or early October. Cantu said they’d been looking to expand into the north Bellingham area for quite some time before deciding on this spot. Once open, the new spot will be open for lunch and dinner every day.
Along with the downtown Bellingham, Fairhaven and Barkley Jalapenos restaurants, the company also operates Luna’s Bistro near the Barkley movie theater.
▪ A national electronics repair shop is coming to Bellingham.
A building permit application was filed to put a uBreakiFix store at 155 Telegraph Road, near Denny’s. According to the company website, it is a leader in same-day repairs of phones, computers, tablets and game consoles.
Bellingham will be the 15th Washington state store for the company. Other locations include Smokey Point and Everett. Overall the company has 685 stores. As of Friday, July 23, the company did not list an opening date for the Bellingham store.
▪ The Comics Place in downtown Bellingham is now open for in-store shopping.
The store at 105 E. Holly St. had relied on delivery and pick-up throughout much of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an email sent out to customers, masks are required in the store since many of the customers are children not yet eligible to be vaccinated.
Hours of operations are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, closed Monday/Tuesday. Details can be found on the company’s website.
▪ Insurance company Snapper Shuler Kenner will be changing its name to Brown & Brown on Jan. 1, 2022.
The business was purchased by Brown & Brown back in 2011, but chose to keep the Snapper Shuler Kenner name. Over the years there has been some confusion among customers and vendors seeing the two names, said Paul Kenner, the longtime owner who currently works for the company as a producer.
“This name change will help bring clarity to the marketplace and add visibility to our offerings. It also allows us to be as connected nationally as we are locally, which could help give us better leverage in negotiating and keeping costs competitive for our customers,” Kenner said in a news release.
The office is in Lynden. Details about the company can be found on its website.
▪ After going virtual last year, Downtown Sounds will kick off live musical performances each Wednesday in August on Bay and Prospect streets in Bellingham.
The first concert on Aug. 4 will feature the ‘80s New Wave group Nite Wave with the brass band Analog Brass.
Gates to the outdoor concert area and beer garden open at 5:30 p.m. and music begins at 6 p.m. The concerts are free to the public. The beer and wine garden is restricted to those over age 21. For further details, visit Downtown Bellingham Partnership’s website.
This story was originally published July 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
