My Ballard

If you look in the windows of what used to be Olivine along Ballard Ave., you’ll see bare floors and empty walls.

The popular boutique in Old Ballard closed late last month. The owner moved to Fremont and just opened a new shop called Show Pony on 36th St.

And now a Fremont boutique is planning to move into Olivine’s empty space. Horseshoe is a women’s boutique on 35th St. (photo above) that’s busting at the seams. When it’s owner, Jill Renae Anderson, heard that Olivine was closing, she jumped at the chance to move into the larger space. She plans to close the Fremont shop at the end of the month and open in Ballard in October.

Update: While Show Pony appeared to be open when we went by on Labor Day, the website and voicemail both say the boutique will open on the 13th.

A new boutique called Asher Anson is moving into the empty space on Market St. near Ballard Ave. left by the departing Ben & Jerry’s. “Asher Anson provides well-constructed, premium men’s and women’s clothing,” explains their just-launched website. “(We’re) very much looking forward to our opening in August (no solid date yet) and sharing our brands with you!”

Last week we wrote about the fact that the popular boutique Olivine is closing. We spoke with the manager today who confirms the store will close in September — it has sold and will re-open as another boutique under a different name. We’re told that the annual sale starts on Friday and will continue until everything is gone. By everything they mean the clothing, the racks, the lights, the fixtures… everything. Local shopping blog SeattleChic also spoke with the owner who has details on where the owner is headed (to Fremont).

We received an email tip from My Ballard reader Gooner who had heard that Olivine on Ballard Ave. is closing. Sure enough, a phone call to the popular shop confirmed that it’s going out of business soon.

The clerk who answered the phone couldn’t give us any details, but did say she didn’t know the exact closing date. She asked us to call back and speak with the manager on Monday. Once we get details we’ll post them here.

Back in March we wrote about Nau, a socially-conscious boutique going into the old Sonic Boom location in Fremont. Well, Nau has ceased operations due to a lack of funding and sold to another clothing retailer.

Instead, Mooberry will go into the south half of the old Sonic Boom space — to the right of the photo above — and the north half is still available. (Thanks Patricia for letting us know about Nau!)

There’s a new shoe store on the Greenwood/Phinney line.

Strut just celebrated its one-month-anniversary, and it’s not your trendy, high-fashion, puttin’ on the ritz kind of boutique. This one focuses on comfort and style. That’s right - comfort and style. Two words that generally don’t go in the same sentence. When we were there, we saw sandals, flats and pumps for women, shoes for men and even kiddo shoes. The owner said that she was slowly building up the men’s selection and should have more in soon.

Not even two weeks ago we reported on a new boutique on Ballard Ave. This morning we got an email saying that Dolce Vita looks abandoned. Sure enough, it’s empty! But according to a sign in their window they had to empty the place to re-paint the floor. They plan on reopening this coming Friday.

What used to be Collective on Ballard Avenue, is now an upscale women’s boutique called Dolce Vita. The place has been repainted, they’ve added a chandelier or two and put up a wall between the front half of the space and the back half of the space so it seems smaller. The shop just opened last Saturday and it still has that new paint smell. Dolce Vita has three other locations around the country - New York City, Los Angeles and Santa Monica. According to their website, they’re targeting “the young, the restless and the glamorous.”