2012-13 Business Directory
August 6, 2012
Cash mob shoppers needed to purchase school supplies
July 24, 2012
The Issaquah Chamber of Commerce is directing its next cash mob efforts to help needy students within the Issaquah School District acquire school supplies.
ArtWalk returns to downtown Issaquah on July 6
July 3, 2012
The Downtown Issaquah Association’s next ArtWalk is from 5-8 p.m. July 6.
Stroll the various businesses that host local and regional artists, including Artists in Action at the artEAST Artist Alley, and a wood carver at the historic Shell Station. ArtWalk venues include artbyfire, Centennial Park, Confetti Cupcake, Christian Science Reading Room, Eastside Audiology, Experience Tea, Fischer Meats, Hailstone Feed Store, Illuminate, Issaquah Valley Senior Center, Issaquah Library, Mills Music, Museo Art Academy, Opus Bank and Thrive.
Scattered along the walking route are musical acts, including Acoustic Couti, Sold Only As Curio and the Kaleidoscope School of Music.
Event maps will be available in front of the library, 10 W. Sunset Way, and the historic Shell station, 232 Front St. N.
To accommodate the ArtWalk, Northwest Alder Place will be closed from First Place Northwest to Front Street from noon to 10 p.m.
Learn more at www.downtownissaquah.com.
Next Issaquah cash mob to descend on Fischer Meats
June 19, 2012
Issaquah Chamber of Commerce leaders have asked merchants and shoppers to prepare for another cash mob.
The event is planned to occur at Fischer Meats, 85 Front St. N., at 4 p.m. June 21, as part of National Small Business Week.
In a cash mob, a group of people descends on a business to buy, buy, buy. The destination is revealed through social media services. Then, the mob pops up at the business to browse and shop.
The organizers — Young Issaquah Professionals, or YIPPIES, 20- and 30-something business leaders in the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce — modeled the cash mob on similar events in other locales.
Learn more about the cash mobs at www.facebook.com/CashMobIssaquah and www.facebook.com/YoungIssaquahProfessionals.
Organizers said most participants spend about $20 apiece, but any amount is acceptable.
The inaugural cash mob in Issaquah unfolded last month at Gilman Village merchant Lucky You. Mobbers purchased almost $3,000 in merchandise. The next cash mob occurred at Sisters Antiques.
120 years of Issaquah
April 24, 2012
Click on the image to view the full-size timeline.
1892
- Issaquah is founded as Gilman. The city is named for railroad baron Daniel Hunt Gilman.
1893
- The postmaster called for mail sent to Gilman to be addressed to Olney, Wash., to avoid confusion between Gilman and Gilmer, another city in the state.
1895
- Townsfolk start calling the frontier town Issaquah, or “the sound of water birds” in the language of the American Indians native to the region.
1899
- State lawmakers approve official name change from Gilman to Issaquah.
Stores say no more ‘pink slime’ in meat cases
April 3, 2012
Questions about ground beef fly more often across the counter at Fischer Meats since the issue of “lean finely textured beef” — more recognizable by the headline-grabbing nickname “pink slime” — captured the media zeitgeist late last month.
“I’ve probably had a half a dozen people that have mentioned it and said, ‘We’ll never buy ground beef in the grocery store again because of that,” owner Chris Chiechi said April 2. “We have been selling a little more ground beef in the last month. I wouldn’t call it a huge impact.”
Fischer Meats does not use the additive.
The product is made from beef trimmings treated in ammonium hydroxide to eliminate pathogens. The additive is used in ground beef and beef-based products.
George Fischer, former co-owner of Fischer Meats, dies at age 82
April 3, 2012
George Fischer visits Fischer Meats as a guest of honor to help his former business celebrate its 100th anniversary during an open house celebration Nov. 21, 2010. Contributed
George Fischer, 82, best known for decades of tending the counter at Fischer Meats on Issaquah’s Front Street, died March 26 at the Aegis of Issaquah assisted living facility.
Advertised as one of Issaquah’s oldest businesses, Fischer Meats celebrated its 100th birthday in 2010. George and brother Nick took over the business from their father in the 1950s. They sold the shop to current owners Chris and Jacque Chiechi in 1981. Chris Chiechi said George Fischer stayed with the shop and helped run the meat counter for about another 15 years.
“He was a big man, but he had a very kind heart,” Chiechi said.
The original Fischer Meats was started by his grandfather and sat outside of downtown, said Geoff Fischer, one of George’s two sons. Geoff said the store quickly relocated to its current spot on Front Street. For a time, the family also owned a slaughterhouse in the area.
Longtime Issaquah chef Lynn Rehn rolls out food truck
March 27, 2012
Lynn Rehn stands beside her My Chef Lynn food truck, advertising its ‘fast, fresh, fabulous’ sliders, soups and salads, featuring items from Issaquah businesses Fischer Meats and Boehm’s Candies. By Greg Farrar
Lynn Rehn is poised to turn the phrase “fast food” inside out.
The popular caterer and longtime local chef is ready to roll out a food truck to serve sliders, chili and a side of sass. Double D Clam Chowder, anyone?
The mobile operation for Rehn’s My Chef Lynn outfit is the latest endeavor for the former Sweet Addition head chef. Rehn plans to join the food trucks each summer Saturday at the Issaquah Farmers Market. The truck could also stop at the Fremont Sunday Street Market.
The idea for a food truck started to coalesce after Rehn and husband Tony, general manager at Evergreen Ford in Issaquah, caught episodes of “The Great Food Truck Race” — a Food Network cross-country competition among mobile kitchens.
“I looked at Tony and said, ‘That would be a cool gig,’” Rehn recalled.
(“The Great Food Truck Race” debuted in August 2010 at about the same time the national fervor for food trucks accelerated into gear.)
Experience life in Issaquah 100 years ago — outhouses, saloons and all
February 21, 2012
Forget the buttoned-up suburb, circa 2012, to envision Issaquah from a century ago.
Issaquah in 1912 included more saloons than churches. The coalmines and logging camps attracted a tough-as-nails crowd. The era required a little more steel in the backbone.
Townsfolk eked out a hardscrabble life, but still managed to loosen up at the Stockholm Hotel & Saloon or Clark’s Place. In homes, simple conveniences — indoor plumbing, for instance — ranked as unheard-of luxuries.
Imagine a typical day from 1912.
The chill February air is a bracing alarm, almost as difficult to ignore as the crowing rooster outside.
First Friday Wine Walks offer a new taste of downtown
January 17, 2012
The artEAST Art Center and UP Front Gallery, which always participates in ArtWalk in the summer, will be one of six locations on Front Street to take part Feb. 3 in the inaugural First Friday Wine Walk. File
Adding to its list of events to draw more visitors to downtown, the DownTown Issaquah Association announces First Friday Wine Walk from 5-8 p.m. Feb. 3.
Wine Walk, following other popular events such as ArtWalk and a zombie invasion, will feature boutique wine tasting at six locations up and down Front Street.
“It should be fun,” said Karen Donovan, the association’s executive director. “I’m excited.”
Wineries will include Lodmell Winery in Walla Walla; Woodinville’s Smasne Cellars; and, Castillo de Feliciana. Several Wine Walk locations will feature live entertainment to include acoustic guitarist “Uncle Phil” Hansen; guitarist and composer Angelo Pizarro; vocal group Bodacious Ladyhood; and, pianist Meg Mann.
