Creating art with an attitude for learning
July 20, 2010
Issaquah business brings art to life in struggling schools
Creating art on company time doesn’t get you into trouble at Issaquah-based Artitudes Design Inc. — in fact, it’s just the opposite.
Employees at Artitudes spend a lot of their time creating luxe graphics campaigns, but they also spend it making sparkly CD fish, clothespin-animal picture holders and bean mosaics in schools.
Carrie Meredith (left), executive assistant with Artitudes Design Inc., of Issaquah, looks over the progress of a student’s art project during an art docent campaign classroom visit. Contributed
Why, you may ask? In a time of severe budget constraints for local and state governments, Andrea Heuston, Artitudes Design owner and creative principal, said it’s important to shell out to save art in public schools.
“Today, a lot of teachers are so fixated on tests and scores, and they are so fixated on trying to meet benchmarks, that art gets taken out to meet those other needs,” Heuston said. “Our job is to put it back in.”
For three years, her employees have been leaving their desks to bring art projects into struggling elementary and secondary school classrooms as part of the Artitudes in Action: Art Docent Campaign.
Since 2007, the company has donated $22,500 in supplies and paid employee volunteer hours to four schools in the Northshore, Sultan, Highline and Snoqualmie school districts.
New boudoir studio opens
July 20, 2010
Joey Nicole Boudoir photography recently celebrated its grand opening at 10 Newport Way N.W., Suite C.
Joey Nicole Boudoir features photographer Joey Nicole, a University of Washington graduate from the Bellevue area. Nicole studied under internationally recognized photographer Bob Davis.
She attended the Boudoir Divas Conference in San Diego, Calif., where she worked with leaders in the industry to master the art of working with women in all aspects of shooting boudoir photography.
While many initially book a shoot with the intention of giving Joey’s famed Little Black Book as a gift, many clients say, “I booked this for him, but after doing the shoot I now realize this was so much more for me.”
Nicole’s boudoir photography studio offers clients a comfortable environment, as well as on-site professional makeup application by ILoveBlush.com, a unique-to-you playlist of music to help put you in the mood, nearly instant photo viewing after the shoot, free parking directly outside the studio and more.
Learn more at www.joeynicoleboudoir.com.
Aegis Living receives honor in magazine poll
July 20, 2010
Readers named Aegis Living as the Best Retirement Facility in a 425 magazine poll.
The magazine lauded Aegis, saying the Redmond-based company places emphasis “on seniors living with dignity, and special programs and facilities at each location ensure that assisted living, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients are afforded the opportunity to remain active members of each community.”
The company operates 12 senior communities in Washington, including Aegis of Issaquah, 780 N.W. Juniper St.
“We are proud to be recognized by our community, it means so much to all of us here at Aegis Living,” Dwayne Clark, company chairman and CEO, said in a news release. “It is just another example of the hard work and compassion our employees bring to our communities and the way ‘We Make Life Better’ every day for our residents and their families.”
City planners mull Best Buy permit
July 20, 2010
The planned Best Buy at East Lake Center inched closer to reality earlier this month, as city planners started reviewing a permit application from the electronics chain.
Best Buy seeks to remodel the former La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in the shopping center along East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast.
Plans call for Best Buy to occupy the former furniture store and the long-empty Pacific Fabrics space. The store should open by early 2011.
Best Buy has proposed to modify the front of the building, as well as the truck-loading dock in the back. In order to accommodate the updated delivery area, the chain has proposed added landscaping to the north, east and west sides of the building.
In February, Best Buy — headquartered in Richfield, Minn. — announced plans to open a store in Issaquah. La-Z-Boy closed last month.
Confetti Cupcakes — and craze — reach Issaquah
July 20, 2010
The national cupcake craze — driven by love for the wee cakes and frosted by no small amount of hype — has reached downtown Issaquah.
Confetti Cupcakes & Confections opened at 94 Front St. N. in late June. The shop offers frosting-slathered cupcakes and drinks in a bright, airy space. Linger in the summer sunshine at the bistro table perched outside. During the early weeks after the shop opened, patrons lined up for moist cupcakes capped by a variety of homemade frostings.
The lineup includes classics — think carrot and red velvet cupcakes — and updates on standbys. Chocolate cupcakes, for instance, come bedazzled by crushed Oreos or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Learn more at www.confetti-cakes.com or e-mail info@confetti-cakes.com.
City planners mull Best Buy proposal
July 8, 2010
NEW — 10 a.m. July 8, 2010
The planned Best Buy at East Lake Center inched closer to reality Wednesday, as city planners started reviewing a permit application from the electronics chain.
Best Buy seeks to remodel the former La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in the shopping center along East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast.
Plans call for Best Buy to occupy the former furniture store and the long-empty Pacific Fabrics space. The store should open by early 2011.
Best Buy has proposed to modify the front of the building, as well as the truck loading dock in the back. In order to accommodate the updated delivery area, the chain has proposed added landscaping to the north, east and west sides of the building.
In February, Best Buy — headquartered in Richfield, Minn. — announced plans to open a store in Issaquah. La-Z-Boy closed at the site last month.
Subway coming to downtown Issaquah; cupcake shop opens
June 29, 2010
The chain famous for $5 foot-longs plans to expand to downtown Issaquah next month.
Subway should open at 98 Front St. N. by mid-July, franchisee Karim Karmali said last week. The city issued a permit for the restaurant June 23 and, by the next afternoon, green “Coming Soon” banners hung in the windows.
Karmali also operates the Subway along Northwest Gilman Boulevard.
Upcoming additions to downtown also include dessert. The nationwide cupcake craze reached Issaquah last week.
The other addition, at the opposite end in the same building as the planned Subway — the storefront at 94 Front St. N. — opened June 28 as Confetti Cupcakes. Employees took to Twitter on June 23 to announce the opening.
Subway and Confetti Cupcakes join other businesses relocating downtown from other storefronts and from elsewhere in the city.
Bicycle Center of Issaquah moved from a downtown space into half of the former Allen’s Furniture this spring. Amante Pizza & Pasta plans to open in the renovated space next door within the next few weeks.
El Abuelo, a downtown Mexican grocery damaged in a January fire, did not reopen, and the owners did not renew the lease for the 147 Front St. N. space. Troy Salon — the adjacent business damaged in the blaze — plans to reopen in the space next door after the space has been renovated.
Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
Big business
June 29, 2010
Costco plans bargains in bulk from modest Issaquah headquarters
Every trip through a cavernous Costco Wholesale warehouse feels like a treasure hunt.
The company brings Dom Pérignon and Bud Light, platinum-set diamonds and scoopable cat litter, Prada handbags and Michelin tires together under the same flat roof.
Costco members line up to check out with carts full of their purchases at the flagship Issaquah warehouse. By Greg Farrar
The quest has been carefully designed for shoppers — 57.4 million Costco members worldwide. Shoppers must traverse vast retail plains and scan the jungle of exposed metal shelves for bargains in order to find loot — discounted Ugg boots, say, or smoked salmon.
Inside the Issaquah warehouse, customers hunt for deals in a retail ecosystem spread across 155,000 square feet. Costco cachet knows no class, no income. Part of the appeal, executives and industry watchers said, stems from the treasure hunt concept. Shoppers return to Costco for basics, yes, but also for the thrill of a surprise bargain.
“No matter what level of economic strata you are, you like good stuff,” company Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said. “Now, sometimes you have to choose to buy the chicken versus the steak, but the fact is, we’ve got some great stuff.”
The philosophy has made the Issaquah-based company the third largest retailer in the United States, the eighth largest on the planet and No. 25 on the Fortune 500.
Businesses benefit from break in city impact fees
March 30, 2010
A city program to make Issaquah more appealing to businesses has aided the developers of Overlake Center, a Northwest Maple Street medical building, offices along East Sunset Way and more than a dozen construction and remodeling projects citywide. Read more
Business briefs
January 26, 2010
Swedish/Issaquah emergency department honored
The Swedish/Issaquah Freestanding Emergency Department was recently named a 2009 Summit Award Winner by Press Ganey Associates.
The department, opened in March 2005, received the award by achieving and maintaining patient satisfaction scores in the 95th percentile or above for at least three years. The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health-care-satisfaction industry’s most coveted symbol of achievement.
The Swedish/Issaquah emergency department sees 24,000 patients per year. It was honored in June 2008 by Consumer Checkbook when it was rated the No. 1 emergency department in western Washington.
