Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, June 21, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
Backup suitors Sammamish says if Issaquah doesn’t want Klahanie, ‘we do’ BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
Owner Diane Salazar laughs with some customers at the newly opened Forgotten Treasures Gifts and Thrift Shoppe in Issaquah. LINDA BALL, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
TREASURE FOUND Sammamish couple follow dream, open thrift store in Issaquah
BY LINDA BALL LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
J
ustice and Diane Salazar were starting to be called professional yard sale vendors by their neighbors. Only they usually held the sales inside their home. The couple, who live on the Sammamish Plateau, talked about opening a store for years, and they finally have done just that. On May 24, they opened Forgotten Treasures Gifts and Thrift Shoppe in Issaquah. They chose Issaquah because more people come down from the Plateau to shop than the other way around. Easy access off of I-90 was also a factor, Diane said. Justice Salazar was a journeyman carpenter, but as work slowed down, and knowing they were good at spotting quality merchandise, they decided to take it out of their home and into the public. The couple sources their merchandise from estate sales and yard sales, selectively choosing what they want to carry in
This is how laundry used to be done — now it’s a fun piece of decor found at Forgotten Treasures Gifts and Thrift Shoppe. LINDA BALL,
Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
the store. As a result, you will find no clothing or ratty old stuffed animals. Instead, there are collectibles, an entire set of China, sporting equipment, furniture, books, CDs – all in good or
great condition, some of it new. “We end up with more tables than chairs,” Diane said as she looked at the mint condition dining room table on the floor now, which has no chairs. The exception to clothing is two leather jackets hanging on the wall. One is from the Sonics, the other the Mariners. Also in stock is a Dooney and Bourke handbag and some jewelry. Max and Opal Hochanadel from Sammamish were in the store for their second time in as many days. They had spied an Ethan Allen bench the day before, when everything was 25 percent off. When Max asked Diane if it was still 25 percent off, she honored the price. The couple beamed as they packed off their new treasure. The Salazars do not take items on consignment. They do take Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Discover and good old fashioned cash. Forgotten Treasures Gifts and Thrift Shoppe is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is located at 1025 NW Gilman Blvd. near Petco and Trader Joe’s. Staff writer Linda Ball can be reached at 425391-0363, ext. 5052.
If the city of Issaquah isn’t interested in Klahanie, the city of Sammamish made it official they are. During a meeting June 11, the council unanimously voted 6-0, with council member John Curley absent, to pursue the annexation of Klahanie and other neighborhoods in Issaquah’s Potential Annexation Area. “If the annexation of Klahanie fails, then Sammamish is prepared to move forward — with the citizen’s acquiesce — to annex Klahanie and to welcome [them] into the fold,” said Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama, during his motion. Issaquah has until Aug. 6 to submit language to the county auditor to get the annexation issue on the November ballot. Issaquah has determined it would gain about $6.47 million annually from additional property tax, some sales tax, state-shared revenues, utility taxes and real estate excise tax. Cost to the city to service the new areas would be about $5.85 million. Issaquah’s annexation issue first came up in 2005, when it was presented to voters in two parts. First was to annex or not, and the second question was whether Klahanie agreed to assume Issaquah’s debt. The first part passed, the second did not. Since then, Klahanie and 12 other neighborhoods have remained in limbo. “In the interim, I’ve been sitting on the edge of Southeast 32nd Street, watching the beautiful city of Sammamish grow and flourish and I would SEE KLAHANIE, 6