Boardwalk Bookstore will close its doors Dec. 31 after more than 35 years in business. Owner Bettye Hendrickson said the closure is not related to the economy, although the store has been for sale with no expressed interest. The closure will leave the town with three book stores: Griffin Bay Bookstore on Spring Street, Harbor Bookstore at Cannery Landing, and Serendipity on A Street.
Spirit Tree Gifts on Argyle Avenue is closing, its owner saying the store has “run out of resources” to keep operating. Spirit Tree’s owners described the store as “a multi-dimensional resource center for personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.” It sold local clay art, drums, handmade pillows, jewelry, mandalas, music and musical instruments, photography, sculpture, video art and wood art. It also sold books and self-awareness tools, and was a venue for meditation and yoga.
A new fitness center is opening on San Juan Island in January. The new gym, Xtreme Fitness San Juan Island, is located in the Beaverton Business Park, 70 Saltspring Road (3/4 of a mile past the library). It will feature a variety of fitness equipment in a 4,000-square-foot open floor plan.
‘My wife and I have just returned home from a wonderful day of Christmas shopping in Friday Harbor. Frankly, we do a lot of shopping online, as well as on the mainland, so we were in for a very pleasant surprise.’
After 18 years of providing medical care for the children of San Juan County, pediatrician Jeanne Olmsted has announced that she will no longer maintain a practice based on Orcas Island after Dec. 31.
Following is a message from Lynn Danaher that the Chamber of Commerce wanted to share in light of recent discussions about “What can we do NOW to help our local economy.”
What do you do when you are a creative retailer, wife and mother with two children? You work around the clock, you hire clerks for the times when the children need you and pay babysitters when you are at the store. That might work when sales are brisk during tourist season, but might be marginal at other times. Michelle Waldron and Megan Van Hamerssfeld have solved that dilemma by combining their two shops — Daisy Bloom and Creme Brulee — into one at 165 Spring St.
All state-run liquor stores will be closed on Thursday in observation of the Thanksgiving holiday. State-run stores will be open on Friday.
The Garuda & I, a favorite venue for beaders as well as lovers of exotic jewelry and objets d’ art, is for sale. “My husband and I also own and run Naknek Charters and Dive and we have decided that we want to focus more of our efforts on building the diving industry in the San Juan Islands,” owner Peggy Long said in an e-mail.
On Black Friday 2008, local businesses throughout the Town of Friday Harbor and, indeed, the entire San Juan Island, will be adorned in holiday decorations, shelves and racks will be overflowing, awaiting your visit as you start your gift and holiday shopping.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt once assured Americans that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. And at least one local financial adviser is saying we need that assurance now: We’re in a recession, not a depression. And we still have a lot for which to be thankful.
San Juan Wireless has announced the addition of AT&T Mobility and Budget Prepay Bill Station to its mix of services. Through a business partnership with Car Toys, San Juan Wireless can now offer mainland competitive prices on AT&T Mobility GSM phones. AT&T Mobility is a wireless carrier whose service will work both domestically and internationally.
The auction of the Friday Harbor Ace Hardware property has been postponed until Dec. 5, 10 a.m., on the courthouse steps. The auction had been scheduled for Oct. 3 but was postponed because the property owner, J. Philip Miller of Camano Island, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
