Category Archives: Business Beat

After all the waiting, you might have expected some sort of grand announcement, like email or a customer letter or a notice on the Comcast web site. Instead, self-discovery seems to be the main way Comcast customers in Bremerton will learn that the “coming soon” HD channels are actually here. In my case, I was checking the channel lineup in the Comcast Guide yesterday afternoon just before President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan and there they were: Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and about 15 others, all in high definition and all occupying a previously unused block of channels starting at about 650. 650! No wonder Comcast complains about bandwidth problems.

Last Saturday I found out what the plans are for the building at 1107 Marine Drive (see photo). When the new owners began fixing it up last month, my neighbor and I made some guesses but we weren’t even close. Sporting a fresh coat of green paint, a remodeled interior, and a new garage door, the building looks great. But no amount of remodeling will fix the site’s biggest problems: access and parking. Thus I was surprised to learn that Flowers To Go will be opening a shop there. The very name implies a business that depends on in-and-out traffic. Their decision is even more surprising because Paul’s Flowers recently moved into the strip mall at 3850 Kitsap Way next to Subway, just a stone’s throw away.

The new home for Flowers To Go is only a half block north of Kitsap Way, one of Bremerton’s busiest roads. Because traffic backs up often on Marine Drive while drivers wait for a green light, it can be difficult to exit the building’s small parking lot especially if you want to go north on Marine Drive. Lack of access hurt the other businesses that tried their luck in the building, most recently a cleaners. The other Flowers To Go shops in Kitsap County have drive-through windows, a feature impossible to put in at the Marine Drive location. Still Flowers To Go will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. I hope they are successful.

On my way from Treasure Island to Bremerton this morning, the Seattle radio stations were reporting that Arnold’s Broyhill Home Furnishings had been destroyed in a fire. Thus, I had a clue about what to expect and knew, for example, to avoid the stretch of Kitsap Way between National Avenue and 11th Street. Later in the morning I rode my bike there to check out the fire site. Nothing I had heard prepared me for a loss of that magnitude.
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