Makers
Best Women’s Wear Designer
In the past, Mark Mitchell’s designs have been over-the-top fabulous and flirtatious, borrowing concepts from his costuming education and background. With layers of tulle, yards of satin, massive feather accents, boldly girlish colors, and curve-hugging silhouettes, Mitchell’s work looks like a showgirl’s dream closet. With the same dedication to embellishment and attention to detail, Mitchell embarked in a new direction this year, shifting the focus of his craft to clothing for the dead, whether women, men, or children. Mitchell’s most recent collection, aptly titled Burial, began with an urn made of 275 pieces of hand-dyed silk for Lundgren Monuments’ Softer Side of Death show, and evolved into a nine-piece collection of ensembles painstakingly created as tributes to the people who will wear them. Every item is unique, created with one specific person, one specific body, in mind. Using traditional techniques, including a lot of handwork, and favoring fabrics known for their biodegradable properties, each piece is a meditative expression of a life lost. (Note: The Burial collection will make its debut on live models on September 20, with a subsequent four-week exhibition at the Frye Art Museum.)
BROOKLYN BENJESTORF
mark-mitchell-9vfm.squarespace.com
Best Game Maker, Analog
Seattle is a city of gamers, so it is no surprise that University Games was founded here in 1985. Started by lifelong gamers Bob Moog and Cris Lehman, University Games creates games for all ages that are both educational and socially engaging. They’re perfect for families and beginner gamers, but are not watered down, so even hardcore gamers can appreciate the thoughtful gameplay. University Games’ approach has resulted in numerous awards and recognitions, and has grown into a small empire, with five brands that all specialize in gaming and puzzles. If you’re interested in educational games for children, check out their Brain Box and Brain Quest series. If you’re looking for a great social game, check out Dumb Ass or Smart Ass, both fun trivia games good for gamers and nongamers alike. TERRA OLSEN
ugames.com
Best Game Maker, Digital
Casual gaming has become a real contender in the gaming market, and we’re lucky enough to have one of the best studios located in Seattle. Big Fish Games, founded in 2002 by Paul Thelen, creates and publishes online and mobile games that appeal to casual gamers. Its products have brought gaming to a whole new demographic, and I love them for that. Newbie gamers of all ages are now trading tips and tricks on forums and have created a real community that no one could have predicted. Although Big Fish has grown into a casual-gaming empire, it’s managed to maintain its fun and positive work environment, making it the best gaming studio in Seattle. TO
bigfishgames.com
Best Headstones/Monuments
Morbidly enough, perusing through Lundgren Monuments might make you a little excited to die. Unsatisfied with the “shocking amount of mass-produced, poorly conceived, and plain ugly designs” in the death-care industry, Lundgren Monuments committed itself to producing beautifully designed headstones and urns in cast glass, granite, bronze, and stainless steel that will turn heads in the graveyard or on the mantle. Sometimes the work verges on conceptual art. The boutique’s Rest in Paper series features cardboard and paper-based urns and caskets that are all biodegradable. The work addresses one of the longstanding problems I’ve had with regular caskets—the inherent selfishness of preventing your body from providing nutrients back to the Earth once you’re gone. The paper series eloquently resolved that dilemma while also being impeccably designed. But hey, that’s just me, and that’s also the beauty of the store. They recognize that everyone in life is unique, so in death there should be an equally unique way of leaving a legacy—even if it means you don’t want to leave a trace at all. KELTON SEARS
1011 Boren Ave., 910-2432, lundgren monuments.com
Sellers
Best Gaming Store
Located near the heart of Ballard, Card Kingdom offers a huge selection of board games, ranging from family games to more intricate ones for the experienced gamer. Now you might be saying to yourself, “But I can just buy my board game online; why would I drive all the way to Ballard?” To that I say, “Clearly you’ve never been to Card Kingdom.” The space is decorated thoughtfully with gamers in mind, including a Magic the Gathering chandelier, and the staff is friendly and very knowledgeable. Like crazy knowledgeable. When you get in a fight over the rules to any game, you can be sure one of them probably knows the answer. But Card Kingdom is not just a place to buy games; they encourage you to play games there, and often hold tournaments in their back rooms or on the beautiful terrain tables (for miniatures). To top it all off, they have games there to play while hanging out in the adjoining watering hole, Cafe Mox. Brothers Damon and John founded Card Kingdom with the mission of creating the best game store in the world. Gentlemen, mission complete. TO
5105 Leary Ave. N.W., 523-2273, cardkingdom.com
Best Bookstore Chain
With its shelves packed to bursting, Kinokuniya is like the Mr. Creosote of bookstores: Just one more Haruki Murakami, you think, one more pink-covered tween fashion mag, and the place might explode. Tucked into a corner of the Uwajimaya complex in the ID, it’s an outpost of Japan’s largest bookstore chain (at last count, 56 locations in Japan, 28 outside). The lower level carries books in English about Japanese history, politics, crafts, cuisine, art books, language instruction, and more. The upper level is filled with books in Japanese. One entire side is filled with manga, tightly shrink-wrapped to look like DVDs. A back corner offers kid stuff. Beside that are shelves of beautiful notebooks and writing implements for the back-to-school shopper with exquisite taste. There are films, too, including the decades-long series starring “Tora-San, Japan’s Most Lovable Loser!” There’s something else I was curious about, supposedly a significant part of Japanese pop culture, though I’m a little embarrassed to ask. Oh, here we are: Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love. Love Infusion. See Me After Class. Interesting . . . GAVIN BORCHERT
525 S. Weller St., 587-2477, kinokuniya.com
Best Place to Buy Vinyl
In a world where records are sold alongside apartment decor (Urban Outfitters) and often grossly overpriced, the platters at Easy Street West Seattle are an audiophile’s dream in both their music-cred setting and reasonable prices. Musician Mark Pickerel curates the store’s stacks and says “LP sales are better than ever.” It can’t be an overstatement; the selection of used, new, and obscure titles are expansive, from RJD2’s Deadringer to the Byrd’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo, yet affordable. The best deals are in the used section, where prices average between $1 and $5; new releases run $17–$20. When there’s too much stock, sidewalk sales pimp albums for 50 cents (sometimes free); and if you start an LP card, your purchases will eventually earn you a free album. Come September, you’ll likely find Pickerel’s latest solo release Tess, on Fin Records, lining the shelves as well. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT
4559 California Ave. S.W., 938-3279, easystreet online.com
Best Bike Shop
20/20 Cycles over in the Central District is an adorable shop full of exceedingly helpful employees. It’s also exceedingly badass. Shop owner Alex Kostelnik wasn’t content just selling bikes, so he decided to make his own damn bike. Kostelnik designed the “Sealth,” named after the Washington State Ferry of the same name (which is named after Chief Seattle), to be “perfectly equipped for both your daily commute and long-distance rides throughout the Pacific Northwest.” It’s gorgeous and sleek, mixing the look of cute vintage bikes with the functionality of a serious cycle. When 20/20 Cycles isn’t busy churning out its own flagship rides, it also hosts shows. At night, it’s been known to transform into a cozy little DIY venue that’s hosted performances from La Luz to Mount Eerie as part of a loose partnership with Hollow Earth Radio, which sits next door. If you like bikes, bands, and badassery, 20/20 Cycles is pretty much your one-stop shop. KS
2020 E. Union St., 568-3090, 2020cycle.com
Best Comic Shop
Superheroes are always looking out for the little guy. Zanadu does its best to imitate the heroes who populate the pages of its comics by doing the same. For indie comic-book artists and publishers, Zanadu offers some incredible deals. Accepting local comix with open arms, the Belltown-based shop offers consignments with a 50/50 split of the cover cost. Placed lovingly alongside regular big-hitting titles on the new-release shelf, the store also has a dedicated indie-comix section where customers can peruse panels created by local scribblers and scrawlers. It also denotes each and every small-press publisher release with special tags. But that’s not to say the place doesn’t carry your Batmans or Supermans: Pretty much each and every comic you could ever imagine resides within the “Excelsior!”-inducing store, including walls of collectibles and figurines. KS
1923 Third Ave., 443-1316, zanaducomics.com
Best Novelty Goth Shop
A romantic tableau greets you in the front window of Gargoyles on the Ave: one skeleton on bended knee proposing to another. It’s always Halloween at Seattle’s prime emporium for goth decor, and the crumbled leaves scattered underfoot add to the autumnal atmosphere. Crammed like a macabre curio cabinet mostly with winged, googly-eyed stone beasts—from paperweights to four-foot-tall garden pieces—Gargoyles also offers Egyptian cats, sage wands, two-headed dolls, “Bat Boy” hoods, Jack Skellington Christmas ornaments, and oils, candles, and incense of all kinds. GB
4550 University Way N.E., 632-4940, gargoylestatuary.com
Best Hardware Store
Recently I went into Pacific Supply Co. to buy some giant 2×4’s with the intention of turning them into sawhorses for a project I was working on. When I asked the man at the front desk a) how I should saw the wood and b) where I could find a saw, he realized I might need some help. He took the wood to the corner of the store and offered to cut it to the lengths I needed. Ten minutes later, three store employees had turned the wood-cutting into a competition, seeing who could saw through the 2×4’s the quickest. The employees lined up and hacked away, yipping and shit-talking one another’s skills the whole time. Sawdust flew in the air as a circle of customers gathered to watch. It was sort of like when you accidentally flip on the lumberjack competitions on ESPN 4. Not only are the people at Pacific Supply Co. helpful and kind, they are competitively so. And damn, can they cut wood fast! KS
1417 12th Ave., 322-1717, pacsupply.com
Best Musical Instrument Store
It’s bewildering that it took as long as it did to put a music store in the Pike/Pine corridor. In a neighborhood where you can’t throw a happy-hour hamburger without hitting a musician, Capitol Hill is full of scuzzy long-haired shredders who probably break more than their fair share of strings. Enter High Voltage, swooping in to save the day with its cozy little storefront right on the corner of Pike and Broadway, an incredible musical Valhalla of strange guitars and keyboards, weird one-off sound-making doo-dads, and boutique local music pedals and tech. Local amp maker Ben Verellen is rumored to be working on a custom amp model just for the store. Every time I go in, there seems to be some new artifact available to tinker with. Recently the store got one of the largest toms I’ve ever seen; the employees sat patiently as I banged on it with a mallet for way longer than anyone should normally be able to bear. The place feels like a little musical community center—the kind of place where people remember your name and don’t care if you try out every single instrument for an hour. The best part is its ridiculously efficient repair shop. A friend whose amp was on the fritz recently took it to High Voltage and was out the door with everything good as new in 10 minutes—and with a measly $15 charge. Customer. Service. KS
910 E. Pike St., 535-8526, highvoltage musicstore.com
Best Mall
“The shopping mall is dead, bricks-and-mortar retail is over, Amazon has killed the shopping 3 mall.” So goes the conventional wisdom. Then you go to University Village, which is busier and more thriving than any other retail district in the city. Another new parking garage is being erected, and for good reason. Originally built on fill and refuse and dubbed “Dumpgate” after opening in 1956, U Village has steadily evolved from the old A&P, Ernst, and Kay’s Bookmark into a boutique-filled selection of retailers. The Apple Store and its rival Microsoft emporium speak to the tastes and affinities of north-end shoppers, as do retailers like Ann Taylor, Cole Haan, and The North Face. But what really impresses about the 24-acre site is the ebb and flow of shoppers on foot. Though most visitors drive there and park, they then spend hours walking among the restaurants and stores, and U Village gives them plenty of places to sit, park the kids, and use public restrooms. It’s been 20 years since Stuart Sloan and Matt Griffin bought the complex and began taking it upmarket, and it’s a market people clearly want to follow. BRM
2623 N.E. University Village St., 523-0622, uvillage.com
Best Contemporary Clothing Store
Favoring an edgy, gothic-chic aesthetic, Craft & Culture has done a stellar job of amassing a selection of brilliant independent designers, both local and international, in the short year and a half it’s been in operation. C&C’s founders, Jason Parker and Hana Ryan Wilson, cite their relationships with independent designers who were struggling to get work seen as a powerful motivator for opening the store. Under Parker’s direction, the shop has provided both a platform for emerging artists and an easily accessible resource for those seeking unique and affordable clothing and accessories. The Web-based format lends itself to storytelling in a way that a physical location never could, and Ryan Wilson’s background in the newspaper business informs her approach to retail, viewing the stories of the designers C&C showcases as equally important as the objects they produce. The store is built around the idea of exploring that narrative through lookbooks, interviews, and feature-length stories. It’s an inspired concept. The digital environment C&C has created makes the shopping experience more interactive, promotes discovery, and diminishes the space between maker and buyer. As they’ve only just begun, the future can only hold expansion for this innovative and original boutique. BB
craft andculture.com
Best Pop-Up Market
Walking through the doors of Chop Suey for ArtAche on the first Sunday of the month guarantees discovery. Delicate feather hair accessories, heavy chain-mail opera necklaces, and dangly earrings adorned with glittering gold teeth are just a small sampling of the handmade items available for purchase. The artists are close by, happy to answer questions or engage in witty banter. On the dance floor, a local rock star sells her collection of vintage finds; meanwhile, a live band plays onstage and a select group of shoppers get down to the tunes with unabashed enthusiasm. Celebrating its second anniversary on September 8, the ArtAche Market has been growing in influence since it first popped up at Vermillion back in 2011, a success due in large part to the keen eye and wisdom of the market’s curator, Marz Martinez. She’s a fortune teller—one of those rare individuals who knows what people want before they want it. Whether she’s booking bands for her No Sleep collective or selecting vendors for ArtAche, her eye for trailblazing talent is incomparable. For ArtAche, Martinez draws from both of these worlds, creating a shoppable party atmosphere that simultaneously supports local artists and offers a rare and thrilling way to explore. BB
chopsuey.com/calendar/artache-market
Best Vintage/Thrift
Looking for a pair of vintage ropers? An authentic airbrushed “spirit animal” T? A great floor-length ’70s sundress? Look no further than Caryn Cook’s Lucky Dry Goods, with locations in Ballard and the U District, furnished with only the finest retro threads. Styles range from “the 1800s to the early 1990s” and incorporate every trend from country Western and ’70s fashions to formal ’50s cocktail attire. Men’s and women’s fashions are equally represented, and, for such a variety of one-of-a-kind items, priced reasonably. (I scored a pair of mint-condition ’60s Lucchese red and yellow Wanda Jackson–style cowboy boots for a mere $60—that company’s been making boots since 1883, and current offerings on Zappos run from $180 to $2,300.) During Ballard’s second-Saturday art walk, the newer location doubles as a music venue and features acts like psych-rockers Rose Windows and Davidson Hart Kingsbery and Caitlin Sherman’s country duo Evening Bell. GE
5424 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-8191, luckydrygoods.com
Best Move, Retail Division
It wasn’t the Spartan, warehousy utilitarianism of Lower Queen Anne’s Silver Platters that gave it its irresistible pull, but the fact that it boasted the best classical CD department in town. I know, given the dire news you’ve heard about the recording industry, that that sounds like an accolade on the order of “world’s tallest midget”—but you’d never know it at SP, where three or four dozen new releases would tempt me whenever I dropped in. Thank goodness neither the selection nor the Spartanness changed in the branch’s relocation to SoDo. Asked about the move, owner Mike Batt says, “I don’t like leaving neighborhoods/locations. In the case of Queen Anne, it was the fact that it became clear that the space we were in would be redeveloped in the near future, and we needed to be proactive to find a new space that was big enough to hold our entire inventory and still be the record store we want to be. … at least 12,000 square feet in order to keep our large music, movie, and book selections. Anything less would have meant downsizing the labor-of-love sections such as classical, jazz, international, folk and yes, even vinyl.” On a recent visit, their two and a half long aisles of new and used classical CDs, fat with plunder, again stirred that familiar itch in my wallet area. And speaking of vinyl, the store’s used classical bins are mouthwatering, and the book section seems to have expanded as well. The SoDo store’s actually smaller by about 1,000 square feet, says Batt, but “we can lay it out better, and so we have as many racks as we did at Queen Anne, including a few more, and it appears bigger. When people ask about the size now I just tell them it is bigger, instead of trying to convince them it isn’t.” GB
2930 First Ave. S., 283-3472, silverplatters.com
Best Pawn Shop
Ensconced in a cubbyhole at the back of Barney’s Jewelry and Loans, owner Barry Steinberg takes out a file of pictures from the pawn shop’s early days. When exactly the pictures date from is hard to say. But as Steinberg, cousin of founder Barney Robbins, points out, the listed prices for food, which the store then served, provide some clue: “2 fried eggs 50” (that’s cents), “fish 35,” “coffee free.” Steinberg puts the time period in the ’40s, bolstering his contention that this Pioneer Square establishment is the oldest pawn shop in town. Newer, flashier ones have arisen, he concedes. He says he’s not worried. Steinberg, who decades ago traded in a job as a pediatric audiologist to take over the family business, and who professes to enjoy jawing with his varied clients, says he relies on his reputation for treating people with respect. He adds he’ll often hold onto items way past the required 90 days—sometimes for years—to give customers a chance to buy them back. Despite that policy, you can find some interesting things for sale at Barney’s, including bargain antique jewelry. Bonus tip: Barney’s replaces watch batteries for $10, a service and a price not easily found downtown. NINA SHAPIRO
401 Second Ave. Ext. S., 623-6654
Best Dollar Store
For us cheapos, the goods on offer at the Daiso—or Japanese dollar store, with locations at Westlake and in the International District—are simply nicer than the yellowed wrapping paper and plastic doodads that fill American-born stores. Ironically, most of the items are made not in Japan, but, as at the standard dollar store, in China. Yet the selection is entirely different, dare I say . . . tasteful. I have the cutest pair of ceramic rabbit salt-and-pepper shakers (black and white, of course), which I got for $1.50 each (factoring in the exchange, most items are at least $1.50), along with all kinds of adorable—and dirt-cheap—food storage, kitchen utensils, and serveware. There are sake sets and sushi plates for next to nothing, Kawaii-style stationery, pet and cleaning supplies, all kinds of cool things. When I used to wait tables, I bought all my uniform ties from the Daiso—and regularly received compliments on them. Even if you aren’t in the market to buy anything, listening to Japanese pop and strolling the narrow aisles packed with stuff like vegetable scrubbers and laundry nets, you might find something you didn’t even know you needed. GE
400 Pine St., Suite 036, 625-0076; 9100 15th Place S., Suite E, 762-0477; daisollc.com
Marijuana
Best Dispensary
After more than two years since my previous visit to West Coast Wellness, I found big improvements when I checked them out again in May. One of the very best changes is the almost complete $10 cap on flower prices (when 3 I visited in 2011, 18 top-shelf strains were priced at $15 a gram, and 12 more strains were $12). West Coast Wellness did have one $12 strain—Kona Gold—on the day I visited, but this 1970s vintage sativa dominant is arguably worth the price. They also have an impressive table full of just about every kind of medible you can imagine—all just $5 apiece or five for $20, meaning you can have great fun picking out a bunch of ’em. STEVE ELLIOTT
14314 Greenwood Ave. N., 420-3296, wcwell nesscenter.org
Best Local Strain
There are a lot of good medical-marijuana strains in Seattle dispensaries. Fewer are the strains that are actually bred in the Puget Sound area, though there are a number of contenders. Among the best produced by local breeders is the hybrid Ghost (Afpak x White Widow) from local weed wizards Secret Seeds Collective Garden. Secret Seeds has based a whole line of strains on Ghost genetics, with spectacularly sticky, psychoactive results. SE
12345 Lake City Way N.E., #422, secretseedscollectivegarden.com
