Northwest Gold Coast

Two boutique retailers countdown to launch the holiday season with new stores at The Landing in Renton.

Poggi Bonsi of Burien and C’est la Vie of Edmonds are launching new stores at The Landing in Renton in Mid November, 2009 with a joint grand opening celebration scheduled for December 4. Both stores are #1 winners in King 5’s “Best of the Northwest” contest 2009—C’est la Vie won for best gift store and Poggi Bonsi won for best housewares store. The two retailers, who share a common customer demographic, business philosophy and promotional savvy, will remain separate entities but will team up to plan advertising, promotions and in-store events. This creative partnership will provide their customers with a varied and unique destination shopping experience.

Poggi Bonsi specializes in kitchenware, Italian and French ceramics and linens, specialty foods, home décor and “Gifts with European Flavor.” C’est la Vie is an intimate and sophisticated artisan boutique featuring contemporary jewelry, clothing and home furnishings. Each store will occupy approx 2,800 square feet with a connecting doorway so customers can stroll between the two with ease.

The Landing in Renton was chosen as the location to launch this new partnership because of its commitment to attracting boutique retailers to an under-served area of South Lake Washington.

About Poggi Bonsi

Poggi Bonsi (www.PoggiBonsiGifts.com) is a direct importer of Italian ceramics, French pottery, Italian olive wood utensils, and fine European linens. In addition to its imported goods, Poggi Bonsi features an assortment of European kitchenware, specialty foods and home decor celebrating the Mediterranean lifestyle. The name Poggi Bonsi is taken from the village “Poggibonsi” in central Tuscany. Owners Michelle Codd and Keli DeRitis have traveled hundreds of miles in the European countryside seeking out suppliers who practice their centuries-old crafts.

About C’est la Vie

C’est la Vie (www.clvcatalog.com ) is a one stop gift, clothing, jewelry, furniture and wall art store based in Edmonds, WA. C’est la Vie features brands such as jewelry from; Trollbeads, Heather Moore, and David Tishbi, clothing from Michael Stars, Jag and many more. C’est la Vie also showcases a constantly changing selection of handcrafted artisan works. The store’s focus is on unique, trendy products for the discerning boutique customer. C’est la Vie, which translated means “such is life” is a favorite saying of the owners; Colleen Bowman, Susan Dunn and Michael Bowman. This ownership team, with the essential help of a phenomenal staff of sales associates, combine their talents to make C’est la Vie a one of a kind shopping experience.

About The Landing

The Landing (thelandinginrenton.com) is a 46-acre mixed-use development located in Renton, WA that sits at the base of Lake Washington conveniently located just off Interstate 405. The $300 million project will offer a unique combination of housing, restaurants, entertainment options, national retail chains and regional boutiques to create an urban village with all of the desired options for area residents. When finished, the project will include 900 plus residential units and more than 614,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space. The Landing is a joint venture between Harvest Partners a Dallas-based commercial real estate development firm and Transwestern Investment Company, L.L.C, a Chicago-based principal investment company.

Tags: Community Involvement, Shopping by admin
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Last month, thousands of votes came in for King5.com’s Best of Western Washington competition to recognize Seattle area’s best businesses.

Congratulations to the 1st place winners we previously mentioned as some of our favorites:

• Smart Service
• Poggi Bonsi
• C’est La Vie

It’s good to know they are your favorites too!

Tags: Community Involvement by admin
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Evening Magazine’s Best of Western Washington contest is here again.  Each year, King 5 and Evening Magazine ask viewers and fans to nominate and cast votes for their favorite businesses around the Puget Sound, such as restaurants, coffee shops, salons, fitness centers, shops, boutiques and much more.   There are 178 categories to choose from with over 5800 nominees.

Making nominations and voting is easy.  Simply go online to http://best.king5.com and sign in, or create an account for free if you do not have one.  Browse the different categories to find your favorites, or even nominate one that has not been suggested.  And yes, you can and should nominate your own company and it is okay to campaign for votes.

All votes will be tallied and the winners of The Best of Western Washington will be announced in an upcoming episode of Evening Magazine.   The top five companies in each category are recognized.  The contest is widely recognized and it’s great exposure for the effort.  One voter says, “I know when I walk into a shop or restaurant with the sign ‘Best of the Northwest 2008′ I already have an assumed trust that it will be a good experience.”  And one candidate says, “Ask your clients to vote for you at point of sale and let them know how meaningful it is to the success of your business.”

Some of our favorites that have already been nominated are Smart Service Independent Subaru Expert, www.smart-service.com in the auto repair category, Poggi Bonsi & Cucina, www.poggibonsigifts.com in the housewares category,  and C’est la Vie, www.clvcatalog.com for best gift shop.

This contest ends October 11^th, so get online and vote for your favorites today.

Tags: Community Involvement by Michelle Leonard
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After the recent presidential election, people eagerly hoped to see the nation’s economy recover quickly.  People are reluctant to invest money in the stock market, and are wary of big government and corporations.

My hometown, Federal Way, is actively promoting the idea of shopping locally. The Federal Way Chamber of Commerce hopes to stabilize and strengthen the city’s economy by encouraging residents and businesses to buy locally.

Spending money in our community results in more sales taxes to city government.  It also helps local businesses sustain and create more jobs.

Before searching for a product or service on the internet, it makes sense to consider our hometown businesses first.  We may pay a few pennies more, but in so doing, we re-energize the whole idea of community and local prosperity.

While mobility was supposed to make the world smaller, it can isolate us from our neighbors.  If we drive 30 miles or order online from a company half a continent away, simply to save a percentage point or two, we miss the opportunity to connect in our hometown.   Local coffee shops, the nearby dairy, and the grocery that touts “locally grown” are places where we can rediscover our community and regain our humanity.

I am choosing to shop my hometown first.  Whether you are in Kent, Shoreline or Tukwila—why not make your next purchase in your hometown?

Tags: Community Involvement by Oksu Ellis
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While most people in our community still have jobs, homes, and plenty of food, it nags at us that there are many who are living in fear of failure. It is most painful when we see that many of those living in fear are the youngest in our community. Thankfully, there are community leaders who know that it takes investment of time and self to help young children become successful and confident. Below are two programs underway in Federal Way that help children learn that they can succeed.

Two programs, one private and individual, the other aimed mostly at the public schools and systemic reform, offer rich investment opportunities. Communities in Schools, with strong support from the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce, manages the Personal Academic Student Support (PASS) Mentoring Program. Mentors receive an initial half-day training, along with support materials. After clearing background checks and filing a successful application, they are paired with an eager student, most often from a middle school, though the program now includes fifth graders. These mentees are eager and capable. The students selected are not the habitual problem children. Rather, counselors select those who show much promise but who have a few factors that could lead to problems, without some additional support. In other words, mentors work with those they can really impact positively. The mentoring sessions are generally an hour long and take place on the school campus. Unlike traditional tutoring opportunities, mentors talk with their students, often while playing cards or board games. For many of the mentees this is the one time in the week when an adult listens attentively to them. As the relationship builds, students share their lives and mentors can offer bits of wisdom, experience, and most of all, genuine human care to the students. For more information on the PASS Mentoring Program and an application, visit http://federalway.ciswa.org.

Kids at Hope (KAH) is a fascinating approach to working with children, systemically, through public schools, or private after-school clubs. The founding principle of the organization is that all children are capable of success – no exceptions! Rather than focusing on risk factors, human dysfunction, and the many barriers children face, KAH traffics in hope. It does so by training school staff and child-centered organizations and programs in a thorough-going philosophy and system of hope. Adults are taught to catch children doing well and to report their observations to them, “Giving Aces,” to children so they can build their hope and learn to believe in their own success. When children are encouraged to believe that they can excel, in time, they do excel. Some might initially dismiss such optimism as unrealistic and feelings-based. However, the program is backed by scientific research and grounded not in mere self-esteem but in celebrating real achievements – real success. The KAH website offers a wealth of information, examples of their own success stories, and the means by which this dynamic and positive approach to children can come to your school or organization.

Whether you help one child through a mentoring program like Personal Academic Student Support or you bring systemic redirection through hope-based programs like Kids at Hope, there is nobility and legacy that comes with investing in children. Make your success the community’s by improving a child’s future.

Tags: Community Involvement, Education by Oksu Ellis
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