Stopsky’s Closed til Friday

UPDATE: According to their Facebook page, Stopsky’s is now closed until Monday.

Stopsky’s opening has been quite an event. The new deli ran out of food on its opening weekend, then recovered only to face an electrical fire last weekend which has it closed until Friday at 7 am.

Stopsky’s: Now open for business, but not always accepting customers.

The reviews on Yelp suggest some opening glitches like slow food and shortages of rye bread… I suspect the pro crew at Stopsky’s will get these worked out. The couple of Yelpers who focused on the food had great things to say.

They’ve also gotten some good reviews. We’ve been in for bagels so far, which were excellent but also delivered a more slowly than we would have expected. But hey, Noah’s has been in business for years and they’re even slower. Stopsky’s at least has a shot at a decent learning curve.

Vacancies at 27th st

Hot tipper Bill:

The Great Clips haircutting shop is moving from its current location next to Roberto’s to the space next to Noah’s (the former ice cream parlor). That leaves the building of its current location on 27th with three vacancies (Great Clips, Finders and Continental Travel). That’s too bad, because the building also houses one of the Island’s only stylish retail establishments in Tatters (but that’s another subject!).

The location, from Google maps:

Lots of movement in downtown these days. I expect the downturn will end up transforming downtown.

Soft Opening of Freshy’s Fish & Chips Window

Yesterday was the “soft opening” of the fish and chips window at Freshy’s. By that I guess they meant it wasn’t advertised, and they had only cod. Eventually they’re planning to have halibut and salmon too.

Verdict was good. Tasty!

By 5:30 they had almost sold out of the 70 pounds of cod, so I’ll venture a guess that they sold out by the end of the night.
The menu:

Construction Contines Apace at New Deli

The website said the deli will open in the spring, so we’ve got less than two months to wait for (hopefully) tasty bagels while we browse Island Books.

Fish and Chips Coming to Freshy’s

Another hot tip on downtown businesses from Bill: Freshy’s finished their fish & chips take out counter.

I stopped in to Freshy’s to get more info and they confirmed that they intend to sell fried, delicious goodness for carry-out. They’re hoping to open at the beginning of May.

Dooz Done: Hot Tip Suggests Why

Dooz Hair Salon on Mercer Island has closed, or as the MI Reporter puts it, “merged” with the Bellevue location. The word merger, which in the corporate world is usually a euphemism for one company taking over another, means even less in the world of retail where one location continues to exist but another does not. In this merger, the Bellevue location continues to exist.

A hot tip from Bill via email suggests why Dooz closed down here: A casual conversation with someone involved with the shop suggests that they found Mercer Island to have too little foot traffic coupled with rent too high.

We can only hope that the new deli by Island Books gives downtown a much-needed center of gravity. There are a couple of good spots: near Noah’s and the new wine store, over at Bennett’s and Cellar 46, at Island Books today. The problem is they are separated by too many banks and real estate agents (who casually hangs out at the bank on a Saturday?) and a couple of massive parking lots, like the one at Walgreens. It’s hard to wander for a few blocks in Mercer Island like you can in Capitol Hill, or Madison Park, or even Bellevue Main Street.

Finally, Some Competition for Noah’s Bagels: Stopsky’s Deli Opening

Noah’s Bagels, which serves as a local deli and the employer of what seems to be half of MIHS, has some competition coming.

Stopsky’s Deli says it “will celebrate and serve Jewish dishes from around the world.” It’s not pulling any punches, with a head chef from Crave in Capitol Hill and a bakery master Chef from the Columbia City bakery. It just got noted in Seattle Weekly, which doesn’t happen all that often for MI businesses.

Looks like they’ll be right by Island Books. The combination bookstore-deli could be a downtown powerhouse. With the park and farmer’s market nearby this could finally give downtown a much-needed nexus.

The website says it’s opening Spring 2011– that’s now! They’ve already been active around town, donating at the most recent Giving from the Heart breakfast to benefit Mercer Island Youth & Family Services. And the Facebook page has 226 likes– that’s more friends than I have, and I already exist. There’s also a lively discussion ongoing, mostly on the subject of delicious bread.

What they have to say for themselves:
A strong creative team has come together to reinvent Jewish delicatessen in the Pacific Northwest. Overseeing the kitchen and front-of-house is Robin Leventhal. Robin was the owner/chef of the acclaimed Crave Restaurant on Capitol Hill, and was a cheftestant on Season 6-Las Vegas of Top Chef as well as a chef instructor at New England Culinary Institute. Andrew Meltzer, aka “the bread maven,” will oversee the bakery. Andrew co-founded the Columbia City Bakery where he cemented his reputation as a master of a variety of breads and other baked items. He taught at the Culinary Institute of America and is a master at braiding challah.

Owners Jeff and Lara Sanderson decided to open Stopsky’s Delicatessen to celebrate family, heritage and community through food. In a return to his roots, Jeff named the restaurant in honor of his grandfather and great uncles. In 1905, Gilbert Stopsky and his three brothers arrived in America from a Jewish village outside Kiev, Ukraine. Wanting to assimilate to pursue the “American Dream,” they changed their name to Sanderson. Stopsky’s Delicatessen celebrates the Stopsky family’s journey in America and reclaims the name with pride in this history and traditions behind it.

Another interesting fact: it’s backed by Sanderson Ventures, a new venture that looks for return in business that benefit their community and are good place to work. The founders are Jeff and Lara Sanderson, and Jeff’s an ex-Microsoftie.

Finally, Mercer Island gets its badly-needed bakery. Can’t wait to try it.

Anyone Want to Buy a Smoothie Shop?

Emerald City Smoothie in North Island is up for sale on BizBuySell.com.

We heard rumors of this more than six months ago but then it went quiet…

Why buy it?

According to the listing:

• Plans for the new light rail station steer the commuter traffic pattern right to front of store.
• Parking garage for patrons a huge plus.
• Why spend $200k-$225k to build-out a brand new store when you can buy a profitable one in a high-income market for 40% of the cost?

So why sell?

Again from the listing: Using capital from sale of store to build a new store on the Sammamish Plateau.

Sounds like the Mercer Island franchise needs a rejuvinator.

New Wine Store on Mercer Island

I finally got a chance to stop by The Olde Wine Store, new to downtown right across from QFC. Met the owner and the manager, both of whom were very nice. And best of all, I stopped by between 1 and 4 pm on a Saturday, when they have free wine tastings. This Saturday: Bergstrom winery.

It’s a very nice store with a great vibe. A decent range of prices on wine, and their website advertises 10% off orders of $200 or more.

Best feature: the location. Mercer Island’s downtown can be nice to wander in, in fits and starts– a block here, a half a block there. The prime real estate near QFC has banks and real estate offices, not great browsing fare for residents. The block with Island Books is good, especially during Farmers Market season. And the block around Bennett’s and Cellar 46 is nice. There’s no connected strip that’s nice to walk like in Madison Park or Wallingford. But this wine store + Noah’s Bagels and the QFC makes this area more of a place to hang out.

It’s been quite a nice crop of new stores coming to Mercer Island– Freshy’s, the bike store and Mud Bay, and now a wine store. Very nice. Unfortunately Finder’s is closing. Anyway, stop by The Olde and have a taste.

Do we need another wine store? Well, do we?

Now open:

A reader writes,
Do we really need ANOTHER high end wine store on this island? (opposite North Mercer QFC).

No offense to those owners just trying to make a buck, but why can’t MI attract more name brand retail and more upscale non-Asian food stops here as well? Why not: Panera Bread, Specialty’s Bakery and Cafe, Bill the Butcher, Trader Joe’s, to name a few. Does everyone think we love driving to Bellevue or Seattle for this purpose (except to eat Thai food or get our clothes cleaned both of which have more per capita options on MI than any other city in America). Bennett’s and the Roanoke are great but we need more variety especially for breakfast and lunch.

See the website for the new Olde Wine Store– see the Reporter’s pics too.

Downtown’s gotten some nice additions lately, from Mo’s Pizza to the bike store to Freshy’s, which incidentally is also now selling high-end wine. hmmmm. This reader has a point. Local bakery/ cafe is my top pick, though a Trader Joe’s or Bill’s the Butcher would be great too. Bill the Butcher recently opened up in downtown Bellevue, so maybe one of the others.

That said, I do like wine and I suspect many Islanders do too. What do you think? What do you want now that this new wave of retail has moved in?