Results tagged “sale”

Winding along the unbeaten path from the University Village, we encountered a sign: "3 for $35." Curiosity heightened, we swerved off the road and into Alhambra's discount clothing store where the gentle and helpful salesman told us that the three were t-shirts from the A to Z Tees clothing line, but other combinations from the clothing line were also on sale: t-shirt and dress, t-shirt and novelty top, for $30.

• The P-I reports that Washington unemployment hit 9.3% last month, up from 9.1% in May.
• The Big Blog says that Allstate has found what we all already knew: Seattle drivers are amongst the worst in the nation.
• The Magnolia Voice has info on the "Admiral's House" up above Smith Cove that the Navy plans to sell off. If you have need of a two-story, eight-bedroom house on four acres of land with one of the best views in the city, apparently you should look into it.

Just two hours after we got back from a day-trip to Bremerton and its beautiful waterfront, we got an email announcing that Bremerton's Westsound Bank was defunct. The Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) took possession, "citing severe asset problems, significant losses and inadequate capital," brought in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the FDIC sold Westsound to Kitsap Bank of Port Orchard.

DANCE DANCE DANCE: Pint-size Swedish ex-ballerina Lykke Li returns to Seattle for her largest venue yet, the Showbox at the Market. Last time we saw her, we said she has "an extra helping of cute and an idiosyncratic voice: breathy baby-girl ("Liddle bit in love wi' you," she sings, and your heart melts) mixed with Swedish soul. Her first full album is Youth Novels. Live, she's in perpetual motion, sashaying around the stage, swiveling her hips, one hand pushing the audience back, the other punishing a cymbal with a drumstick." We're not saying it's because her parents were hippies, but she's got a hell of an onstage work ethic.

Crosscut's Bill Richards has the story on Hearst's signal of disinterest: "Hearst Corp. said today that it won’t make a final $1 million payment to the Times’ majority owners, the Blethen family, for the right to bid first for the Blethens’ 50.5 percent stake in the company." Hearst also said that if they turn P-I into a pixel-only publication, they would do so outside the warm bosom of the JOA. But they haven't decided yet. "What's the big rush? Stop pestering us!" Meanwhile, the Seattle Times is in "survival mode," reports the Stranger--they're asking the unions for 12 percent payroll cuts. This is grim news indeed for Stranger staffers who were hoping to sell out and snag a cushy MSM job one day.

No one's saying anything, but the clouds look pretty dark for the mall's current owners. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chicago's General Growth Properties have hired very specific legal help, bringing on "the law firm Sidley Austin as bankruptcy counsel while it negotiates with lenders for more time to restructure its $27 billion debt load." If Westlake isn't the market already, the auction block is becoming a distinct possibility.

Yesterday we mentioned the scuttlebutt about malled-up REIT General Growth Properties putting Westlake Center up for sale. Today GGP stocks were hammered after the company announced it "might be forced to seek protection from its creditors as it struggles to refinance debt," and are now trading at around $0.40 in after-hours trading. GGP has $958 million in debt due Dec. 1, but a "good price" for Westlake was quoted at just $150 million, so it's going to take more than that to right the REIT's ship.

JPMorgan Chase is holding a conference call at 6:15 p.m. today, and the expected topic is its purchase of (part of) Washington Mutual. WaMu was frenetically batting its eyelashes at any suitor within bidding distance, especially with news of a bailout in the offing, potentially keeping WaMu's toxic mortgage holdings from being a dead loss. Bloomberg says that federal regulators decided to press the issue, and seized the bank's assets today. JPMorgan Chase is apt to pluck the shiniest apple, WaMu's thriving retail bank.

It's been no secret that the parent company of Chateau Ste. Michelle is UST, powerhouse of smokeless tobacco (Copenhagen, Skoal). Three decades ago those tobacco profits, looking for a safe haven, provided desperately-needed investment capital for the young Washington's wine industry. Seriously, Washington wine wouldn't exist if not for the enlightened owners of UST. But times change, and those enlightened owners have long since coughed their last. This week UST was sold to Altria, owners of Marlboro among other cigarette brands, for $10.4 billion. Industry observers say it's only a matter of time until Altria puts the entire Ste. Michelle wine division on the block. Your crack Seattlest news team is on the case (five million cases a year, actually), will report back.

WaMu's bargain-basement stock dropped almost 30% today--it's currently rallied to $2.60 from a low of $2.30--after a 20% fall yesterday. So the market doesn't seem impressed with the WaMu Board's tardy ejection of Kerry Killinger from the executive suite. Bloomberg says: "Credit-default swaps on WaMu are now trading at a price that implies a greater than 90 percent chance the company will default within five years." New accounting rules make selling WaMu and its subprime-mortgage battered portfolio much harder--any acquirer would have to put up extra capital against default--but incoming CEO Alan Fishman says he doesn't even want to sell anyway. So that's lucky.

The P-I's John Cook reports that Amazon has bought Shelfari. Shelfari is reporting its purchase, too, so it must be true. Wonder if Amazon gets free shipping when it buys an HQ?

RETAIL AMBIVILENCE: Ballard boutique Olivine is closing—quelle tragédie! The store had designer favorites, as well as a healthy dose of local designer treats, guaranteeing that you won't show up to a party in the same outfit as anyone else. Over the next few days, Olivine will have a store-closing sale, with prices from 50-70 percent off—quel plaisir!

It's a season of sales in Seattle's fabulous boutiques, making it a perfectly dreary, who-wants-to-be-outside-anyways month to break your assumption that boutiques are only for skinny, rich women. Deals are ready for the reaping, so grab your girls and head north of the Ship Canal, where some of our favorite boutiques reside. Here is a short selection of a few where you can find money-smart steals right now.