Ken’s Market greatly expanded when it took down the temporary wall between the old and the new sections late Sunday night. The new side opened early Monday morning with some produce, and workers have spent all week installing and stocking shelves.

Last week we got a sneak peek three days before the wall came down.

Mike V just sent these photos that he took today, showing workers as they finish up work in the produce section.

And here’s looking to the other side of the store where the registers are.

Today we got a sneak peek inside the new section of Ken’s Market, which is set to open Monday morning.

Co-Owner and Co-Manager Scott Giles says the temporary wooden wall between the two sections of the store will come down just after the store closes at 11 o’clock Sunday night. The new produce section should be all set to go in the new space when the store reopens at 6 o’clock Monday morning. Below is the wall that will come down. The rounded shelving is for the floral department.

The new produce section will be about three times as large as in the old store. This is looking towards the northwest.

The dark wooden doors in the far back are where 75 bins of bulk food will go. The bins will contain various granolas, trail mix, rice, flour, candy, chocolate-coated treats, nuts, etc.

And this is the east wall. (That’s a lone package of cantaloupe chunks sitting on the refrigerated shelf today. The health inspector was expected to inspect the unit later today.)

“Monday morning we’re going to be in business here on this side, just selling produce,” Giles says. The rest of that side will be blocked off as workers finish assembling and stocking shelves. “Then as the day goes on we’ll bring in more.”

In addition to produce, the new side will have meat, expanded floral and other general groceries.

“We’re looking forward to having ample room for customers to move about the store. It limited us a lot,” Giles says of the old store, when the aisles were barely wide enough for two carts to pass each other.

“By the end of next week the store should be set,” he says. “At that point we’ll still be working out some bugs and fine tuning.”

They’ll have customer comment cards out at the check stands and at various places throughout the store. Giles says they want customers’ honest feedback on what they like and don’t like.

You’ll still see construction happening at the back and upstairs as they finish up the office area. Giles says he’s excited to finally have a real office to do paperwork. That space will also have a conference room for staff meetings and an employee lounge.

“We’re very happy with our contractor, Henken Wright,” Giles says. “They’ve been very good at working with us, keeping us in business this whole time. We only lost one day through this whole thing. It’s been a tremendous learning experience. We have learned to adapt,” he says with a laugh.

That’s Giles on the right, and Co-Owner and Co-Manager Bill Stamey on the left.

Giles’ dad, Ken, still works a fair amount at the store, despite selling it back in the mid-1970s. Giles and his brothers, Greg and Steve, still own Marketime in Fremont. The family no longer owns the Queen Anne Ken’s Market.

Giles says his dad doesn’t earn a salary for his work at the store that bears his name. “He gets paid in soup, you could say. He loves our soup!”

Giles says he and his brothers learned about the importance of customer service from their dad. “His core values are customer service, a well-stocked and clean store,” he says. “He’s instilled that in us more than anything over the years. Listen to your customers.”

Ken’s Market’s grand re-opening celebration is tentatively set for April 7.

Our unofficial PhinneyWood photographer, Mike Veitenhans, got a tour of the new Ken’s Market space today and took a bunch of photos. The store’s soft opening is slated for Wednesday.

Here store co-owner Scott Giles lugging stuff into the new front door.

And here’s the other store co-owner, Bill Stamey, stocking shelves.

Here’s a small version pan of the new store. Click here to see a larger version.

Here’s what he had to say about it:

Ken’s Market was closed today (Tuesday) so employees could move stock from the old store to the new and workers could put the finishing touches on the new store in time for the grand opening tomorrow at 6 a.m. Building owner Ken Giles gave me a “cook’s tour” of the new store, including the new offices, employee break room and conference room at the back of the store above the retail space. According to Ken, a deck will be built on the roof next to the offices for employees to enjoy a peek-a-boo view of Green Lake during nice weather. I asked Ken when remodeling of the old remaining store would be complete. He said the contractor thinks by the end of the year. However, anticipating the surprises that always come with a remodel, Ken’s not counting on having the old space done before the middle of February 2010.

Photos include Ken’s son Scott Giles and son-in-law Bill Stamey, store owners, and a 180 degree view I stitched together from multiple photos.

Thanks, Mike!

Here’s some closer looks at the inside of the new store:

And here’s Ken inside the old store:

Ken’s Market is working hard to get the expanded store ready for its “soft opening” on Oct. 7. Here’s their new sign they’re installing this afternoon.

Ken’s will be closing early at 8 p.m. next Monday, and will be closed all day Tuesday. They’ll reopen in their new space on Wednesday morning. Then they’ll be remodeling their current space, and they hope to have their entire store ready to go by the end of the year.

Mike Veitenhans sent us these photos he took earlier today of the inside of the new section of Ken’s Market.

Below are the backs of Ken’s Market’s original owner Ken Giles (left) and current co-owner Bill Stamey (right) watching workers install signage inside the new store today.

This shot is looking west into the store, as the crew looks over the plans.

And here’s what the outside currently looks like, with the new metal awning over the sidewalk.

Mike said Ken told him the new section of the store should be ready by Oct. 8, then the old section will be remodeled.

Thanks for the pix, Mike!

Ongoing construction for the Ken’s Market expansion is uncovering the old Greenwood Electric Bakery sign painted on a facade that probably hasn’t seen daylight in decades.

According to “Seattle’s Greenwood-Phinney Neighborhood,” by Ted Pedersen, the bakery opened in 1928.

Seeing that name makes me think of “The Electric Company.” Now how to get that song out of my head…

Update: This is what the sign looked like a few hours later when it was completely uncovered:

If you blinked, you missed it. Just a few hours after that, it was covered again by new plywood.

All those trucks and small torn up strips of Greenwood Avenue that you saw in front of Ken’s Market today was part of Ken’s expansion project. A worker told me they were installing a bigger water pipe.

According to a note posted on Ken’s windows, the expansion is moving right along and they plan to move into the new space in mid-August. They’ll then close down the current side for remodeling before opening sometime before the end of the year. We’ll try to have more details soon.

Four appeals of the proposed Ken’s Market expansion have been filed with the Seattle Hearing Examiner.

Each of the appeals take various aspects of the Seattle Planning Department’s written decision (.pdf file) to task. Everything from traffic impacts, to concerns about there being enough parking (and that parking being across the street), to the basement of the house behind the store being used for storage, to questioning whether the expansion conforms to the Greenwood/Phinney neighborhood Design Guidelines.

The Seattle Hearing Examiner’s office provided .pdf copies of the appeals for the business at 7219 Greenwood Ave. N, which you can view here:
Appeal 1, Appeal 2, Appeal 3, Appeal 4. UPDATE: Hang tight, we’re having technical difficulties setting these up for downloading… OK, it should be working now. Post a comment if it’s not.

Two are from residents on NW 73rd, one a resident on 65th and one from a former tennant displaced by the expansion. Demolition work is now under way.

According to a hearing examiner’s office employee, a pre-hearing is set for 9 a.m., Nov. 13, to give the parties a chance to “to consider identification, clarification and simplification of the issues, the disclosure of witnesses and exhibits to be presented, motions, and other matters as appropriate for the orderly and expeditious disposition of the proceedings.”

Word of the decision approving the Ken’s Market expansion didn’t reach everyone interested in knowing about it, so the city of Seattle is republishing the decision to give people additional time to appeal the project.

“We made a mistake,” Planner Molly Hurley said. “We inadvertently left about nine names off the mailing list.”

Prompt notification is important because the publication date kicks off a two-week period during which people can appeal the project to the city hearing examiner. Because that didn’t happen, the city is going to republish the decision on Oct. 16, reopening that appeal window until Oct. 30.

It’s a question of fairness, Hurley said. “It’s our mistake and we definitely want to be sure we follow the letter of the law.”

That’s good news for members of “Concerned Residents for a Safer NW 73rd.” Member Sheila Cloney, who first brought this to our attention, said that while they support the expansion of Ken’s, they want traffic calming measures on 73rd Street to be taken into account. According to Cloney, a city transportation study done earlier this summer showed NW 73rd carries up to three times the traffic of NW 72nd and NW 74th.

The written decision downplayed the issue:

The report indicates that there will be an increase of 250 daily trips, including 8 trips in the AM peak hour and 25 trips in the PM peak hour. Of these new trips, 90 daily trips, including 2 in the AM peak hour and 10 in the PM peak hour, would by “pass-by” trips. Pass-by trips are those that are already on the road, (e.g. commuting to or from work) but which would stop at the grocery store. The remaining trips (160 daily trips, including 6 in the AM peak hour, and 15 in the PM peak hour) would be “primary” trips that would represent people on the road specifically to travel to and from the grocery store.
The increase in traffic (15 PM peak hour trips) resulting from the proposed grocery store expansion would represent a relatively small percentage increase compared to traffic already on surrounding roadways. Even if all of this increased traffic were to use one particular local street, such as North 73rd Street, there would only be one additional trip every four minutes. This level of impact is not sufficient to warrant mitigation such as traffic calming.

Anyone who wishes to appeal the measure can get instructions here.

The Department of Planning and Development has approved the controversial expansion of Ken’s Market on Greenwood Ave.

To make way for the expansion, Ken’s did not renew the lease for several stores including Allusia, Greenwood Bakery and Couth Buzzard bookstore.

Clark Design Group has designed the larger market. The plans call for Ken’s to expand into the 5,601 square feet of space that was occupied by the shops and add another 364 square feet onto the first floor of the building. A second floor will also be added for office space. According to the written decision, a “high volume of public comment [was] received regarding this project,” especially regarding traffic and parking. After hearing public comment and an environmental review, the department approved the expansion plans.

Spotted at Ken’s Market on Phinney Ridge - blue roses with sparkles:

Oh, and they also are selling carnivorus, er carnivorous, plants:

It’s a slow news (Labor) Day.