Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming now open in Capitol Hill’s 2025 litter of new pet-centered businesses 7:07 AM (last hour)
(Image: Woof Gang)
(Image: Woof Gang)
The first Pacific Northwest location of a rapidly growing dog grooming and retail franchise is now open in Capitol Hill’s Harvard Market, the first new retail tenant to open in the shopping center as it transitions from the loss of major longtime tenants at Pike and Broadway.
The opening of Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming and its “luxury spa services, gourmet treats and premium pet nutrition” is also the first since the shopping center anchored by the Broadway and Pike QFC was put on the market by its local ownership for $25 million last year.
Neighboring the center’s other pet-focused tenant Banfield Pet Hospital, the newly opened shop offers Woof Gang-exclusive treats alongside bathing, grooming, and spa services.
This location is owned by Sanjna Mehta and her husband Anurag Gandhi. The pair has lived in Seattle for five years and found a home on Capitol Hill, embracing its vibrant roots and pet-friendly attitude. “This city really has my heart,” said Anurag. “I absolutely love Seattle, the community, the nature, and the diversity.”
Woof Gang is hoping to be more than just your local pet bakery and groomer. Going into the summer, the store will host a variety of events to engage with the surrounding community, beginning with canine-friendly meetups in Cal Anderson Park. Woof Gang has also partnered with nearby apartment buildings, most recently the Marlborough and Swell Apartments, to put on “Yappy Hours” as they call it.
The store’s Western Washington expansion will not end with Capitol Hill, as another location in Issaquah is on the way. The Seattle owners were happy to work within the franchise model, viewing it as a way to offer the personalized customer service of mom-and-pop shops with the efficiency of a large chain.
“ We’re passionate about what we do,” said Anurag.” We’re really committed to providing an excellent customer experience.”
A recent tenant roster at Harvard Market
The Harvard Market shopping has been hard hit by the exit of Bartell Drugs two years ago as the Rite Aid chain has imploded under the weight of massive bankruptcy woes. AT&T closed its Harvard Market store last summer. Earlier this year, city officials opted for a First Hill location, ending plans for a CARE Department crisis responders office in the Harvard Market’s shuttered Chase Bank space.
The center and its street level QFC have also been a focus of public safety concerns centered around street disorder, addiction, and homelessness in the area.
The shopping center’s ownership will be a major factor in winning approval for a proposed Pike/Pine Business Improvement Area that would fund litter and vandalism clean-up in the area through assessments on neighborhood properties.
Woof Gang is hoped to be a small part of a new start for the two-level center and its large parking lot though the Bartell Drugs space remains empty years after the chain’s closure.
Meanwhile, an even larger investment in pet retail is still on track to help be part of reinvigorating activity on another part of the Hill. All the Best tells CHS it is planning a grand opening this summer of its new 4,000-square-foot Capitol Hill store. CHS reported last year on plans for the small Seattle-area chain to put the shuttered E Olive Way Starbucks building back into motion. All the Best says it is preparing for an opening by June or July and work including a new mural by artist Sarah Robbins continues.
Woof Gang is now open at 1422 Harvard Ave on the upper level of the Harvard Market. Learn more at woofgangbakery.com.
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New plaza and support for Town Hall: City finalizing public benefits deal for alley vacated to make way for First Hill 32-story apartment towers 7:00 AM (last hour)
Ovation Apartments
The vacation of public right of way for a major new double tower apartment development next to First Hill’s Town Hall Seattle is bringing neighborhood improvements including a new public plaza plus new financial support for the Seneca St. cultural center.
Legislation finalizing the way for the city to hand over the alley space between Seneca and Spring in exchange for a $5.3 million roster of public benefits was approved earlier this week by the Seattle City Council’s transportation committee including D3 rep Joy Hollingsworth. The bill will now move on to the full council for final approval.
Under the legislation, the city will forge the final agreement with Quarterra Multifamily, the developer of the Ovation Apartments and its 32-story residential towers with 565 total residential units that now rises between Town Hall and I-5.
Under the agreement, the project includes a $4.8 million public plaza that connects the spaces as well as $350,000 to support improvements to the historic Town Hall building.
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Police search after unsuccessful hold-up at Broadway bank 7 May 4:49 PM (15 hours ago)
Police were searching for a tattooed suspect Wednesday afternoon in a failed bank robbery on Broadway.
The attempted heist went down just after 2:30 PM at the Chase near Broadway and Harrison where the suspect was reported to have entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash. We don’t have details about what happened next but the suspect fled the bank without any loot and was last reported on foot along E Thomas.
The suspect was described as a white male in his 50s or 60s, thin, around 5’6″, and wearing a dark beanie, glasses, a blue face mask, gray long sleeve hoodie, and black sweatpants at the time of the attempted robbery. Employees said the suspect had several face and neck tattoos and was holding a book as he fled.
A SPD K9 search was conducted in the area but the suspect was not located.
Police detained a possible suspect in the 1600 block of Broadway during the search but a witness told police they had the wrong man and he was released.
There were no reported injuries.
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Seattle Police says will pause ‘directed patrols’ at Denny Blaine, OPA investigating — UPDATE 7 May 1:58 PM (18 hours ago)
(Image: Seattle Parks)
The Seattle Police Department tells CHS it is pausing “directed patrols” at Denny Blaine Park in the wake of outcry of its enforcements efforts around nudity at the popular nude beach.
A spokesperson for the department responded Wednesday as city officials including Mayor Bruce Harrell weighed in on the concerns raised by the weekend police and the park’s longtime use as a nude beach the community.
SPD tells CHS the incident has also been referred to the Office of Police Accountability following a public complaint about the department and officer actions.
CHS reported here on SPD’s clearance of sunbathers from the park Sunday and reported threats of trespass to one park goer who initially refused.
City officials made it clear this week they were not going to stand behind the department on the issue.
Joy Hollingsworth, who represents the area around the park in the District 3 seat on the city council and the chair of the council’s parks committee, told CHS she has been in “active communication” with the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the Mayor’s Office about the Sunday enforcement, and expressed her concerns over the situation, “underscoring the need for a thoughtful, community-centered approach moving forward.”
Meanwhile, Harrell said Wednesday his office had not “directed a change to SPD patrols or approach to enforcement at Denny Blaine Park.”
“As we’ve said before, Mayor Harrell recognizes that people have a right to use the park nude under State law,” a spokesperson said.
SPD’s enforcement activities at the park followed a new lawsuit from unnamed park neighbors demanding the city address concerns at Denny Blaine over “public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking.” The suit all but ends any chance at goodwill and compromise the Friends of Denny Blaine group has been forging. The group has been meeting regularly to find community solutions that also protect the park’s place with queer and nudist communities.
Community group Friends of Denny Blaine continues to seek community solutions. Later this month, it will hold a “Bystander Intervention Training” day at the park with an invitation to park supporters to “learn legal and safe ways to deescalate public indecency.” The training will take place Sunday, May 18th starting at 1:30 PM at Denny Blaine Park.
UPDATE 4:30 PM: The neighborhood group Denny Blaine for All has sent CHS a statement on the situation in advance of the scheduled appearance of SPD Chief Shon Barnes at Wednesday night’s Leschi Community Council meeting.
“Anyone suggesting that nudists can ‘self-police’ is missing the point,” the group says. “No one using the park should be subject to lewd and indecent behavior that is criminal and requires a police response.”
In addition to the statement, the group included two recent photos it says shows photos that encourage “more illegal activity” in the park.
The full statement is below.
“While we appreciate SPD’s recent presence at Denny Blaine Park, more must be done to ensure this small park doesn’t remain a hotspot for public masturbation, indecent exposure, and sex acts in broad daylight. Please see the photos below of signage hung just today in the park. It encourages more of this illegal activity.
“Just last week, multiple incidents of public sex and masturbation occurred—witnessed by parkgoers, reported to authorities, and documented with evidence shared with police. The reality is clear to any reasonable observer: conditions are getting worse.
“Arrest records, court filings, and video evidence tell the real story: this has been an unsafe public space for years. In 2023, a man seen masturbating assaulted another visitor—beating him, dragging him into the water, and yelling homophobic slurs. He was charged with a felony hate crime and awaits trial this month. Court records show he was arrested again just weeks ago—back at Denny Blaine—for masturbation and indecent exposure.
“Anyone suggesting that nudists can ‘self-police’ is missing the point. No one using the park should be subject to lewd and indecent behavior that is criminal and requires a police response.
“These concerns didn’t begin with the lawsuit. The community has raised them for years—met mostly with silence. Since filing, the behavior hasn’t stopped. It’s escalated. And the hostility directed toward neighbors only underscores how difficult and overdue this conversation is.“We appreciate Chief Barnes’ ongoing commitment to bring basic safety to public spaces for everyone.”
The LCC meeting takes place starting at 7 PM at the Grace United Methodist Church, 722 30th Ave S.
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Next for Capitol Hill and Central District grocery shoppers: basket bans and receipt checks 7 May 7:05 AM (yesterday, 7:05 am)
Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture
The big chain groceries of Capitol Hill and the Central District say they are taking new measures to create a safer environment for shoppers but the latest changes are also making trips to the stores here an even bigger pain in the ass.
Recent new indignities around Central Seattle include attempts to ban backpacks from stores and the elimination at shopping baskets in at least one Safeway.
The carts will stay, for now, an employee said, because of the wheel-locks that prevent shoplifters from taking off with a full load of goods beyond the grocery’s property. Apparently the baskets were too convenient for thieves.
This week, shoppers at Capitol Hill’s two QFC markets will notice new efforts that require customers to show a receipt to security before exiting the stores.
It’s an increasingly common practice for large retail chains but also the latest in an ongoing wave of alienating changes to shopping for groceries around Capitol Hill.
“At QFC, we are committed to the communities we serve and providing equitable access to fresh food and essentials. Safety is one of our core values and it guides everything we do,” a company spokesperson tells CHS about the most recent changes.
“QFC has proactively installed the additional safety protocols to maintain a safe shopping environment for our associates and customers,” the spokesperson said. “Although it is still early, we are pleased with the positive feedback we have received from them.”
From @deuceohsixx — “The @QFCGrocery at Broadway/E. Pike in Capitol Hill, Seattle are banning backpacks. That QFC has aggressive security (M Security) who falsely accuses people of shoplifting and ban people from the store who are suspected of it but nothing found on them.”
The receipt policy follows a long line of changes over recent years including cameras and plexiglass mazes.
Meanwhile, the city was reportedly investigating the Crown Hill Safeway earlier this year for doing something Capitol Hill groceries have been doing for years — shutting off second entrances to deter theft. There’s no word if the city will require larger changes over fire and safety concerns.
As for the new receipt checks, QFC did not provide details to CHS of why the new policies are being applied at some Seattle area stores and not others but rampant shoplifting and theft have, of course, been ongoing issues for the industry in communities ranging from big cities to rural America that have left even the likes of Walmart scrambling for new solutions to stop in-person shoppers from stealing.
A major factor in increased grocery chain theft is the rapid shift to self-checkout that now dominates the grocery shopping experience in Seattle. So-called “shrinkage” related to self-checkout has become a large enough problem that QFC parent company Kroger has begun redesigning its business to eliminate the machines at some locations despite the potential cost savings of reduced staff.
The old school chains aren’t the only ones turning the grocery shopping experience into a locked-down, security-focused transaction. Amazon’s big grocery store at 23rd and Jackson also has full aisles with products behind locked glass to prevent shoplifting.
Larger changes for one Capitol Hill store, meanwhile, are coming. Final permitting was completed late last year for mixed-use development planned for the land where the 15th and John Safeway stands today that will create two new five-story buildings and a new grocery, around 330 market rate apartment units, some new, smaller retail spaces, and an underground parking lot for more than 300 cars.
With challenging economic conditions causing a slowdown in new development around the Hill, a demolition and start of construction schedule has not yet been announced for the project.
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