Alfy's Pizza Lynnwood
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The Alfy's in Lynnwwood was listed on Zillow in 2017, perhaps soon after the restaurant closed for good. The building sat vacant until it burned down in 2022.
The building was built in 1978. The entrance was in back and the dining area was an open area with a high ceiling. I remember the interior as being dark, with purple paint and lots of wood finish. The Seattle Times article from 1991 mentions the chain being remodeled for brighter colors and more windows. One of the interior pictures shows the stairs down to the "Game Room", which had coin-operated video games, and a "Sports Room", which had pool tables and foosball tables as I recall. Pizza parlors with video games were popular in the 1970s and the 1980s.
Alfy's was a chain of restaurants. The first was opened on Broadway in Everett in 1972 or some sources say 1973. This was not the same Alfy's on Broadway that closed in 2021, since the restaurant relocated at some point. The Alfy's website says they have as of November 2025 locations in Granite Falls, Marysville, and Monroe. In the past there were also locations in Stanwood, Smokey Point, Oak Harbor, and two in Everett on Evergreen Way and at Silver Lake. There were also locations in King County.
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The pizza chain was founded by Bruce and Judy Olson, who got started in the business by buying a pizza place on Highway 99 near 196th (address?) which they renamed "Bonnie & Clyde's". The switch to the name "Alfy's" was motivated by a better location in the phone book, but both restaurants derive their names from movies in the 1960s. The chain used a central commissary where according the Seattle Times "each day the pizzas are made fresh... and shipped by truck to the various restaurants". It would have been the dough and maybe the sauce that was being made fresh daily.
The Olson's had a mansion in Mukilteo and two sons, Brian and Brett, who inherited the business when Bruce died in 1988. The family mansion was sold in 1999 and the restaurants were split up among various family members in 2012. A grandson also named Bruce Olson inherited the Evergreen location and the original commissary. Comments on various websites mention the quality of the food going down. You have to wonder if this is just due to changing tastes, but it might have been a consequence of the chain being split up and no longer using the central commissary.
- "Pizza Firm Sticks to Basics", Seattle Times, 24 July 1991
- "For sale: A $5M mansion expanded with Alfy's pizza dough", HeraldNet, 14 December 2021
- "Another Aly's pizzeria closes", HeraldNet, 1 January 2022
- "Abandoned Alfy's in Lynnwood a total loss after fire", HeraldNet, 8 September 2022
- "It is with sadness...", Facebook, 30 March 2023, "Evergreen Way Alfy's Closing in April", reddit.com
- "Alfy's Pizza Locations"
Aurora Village
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The mall opened in April 1960 with a Pay 'n Save Drug and a Lucky Stores supermarket.
An Ernst Hardware and a J.C. Penny were added in 1961. A Frederick & Nelson department store was added in in 1963. Ernst Hardware relocated to a freestanding building in 1967.
A Nordstrom opened in 1974. A parking deck was added next to the Nordstrom.
Lucky and Pay n' Save moved to freestanding buildings in 1977. The mall was enclosed and became climate controlled in 1980.
The old Lucky location became the Aurora Village 4 cinemas in December 1980. I think I saw the Wrath of Khan there on its release in 1982. I don't remember visiting the mall very often. We were more likely to go the Everett Mall before the Alderwood Mall opened in 1979.
The Alderwood Mall was probably what put the Aurora Village into decline. J.C. Penny closed in 1986. Frederick & Nelson closed in 1991, and Nordstrom in 1992. The mall was demolished in 1993. A Costco opened on the site in 1994 and a Home Depot around the same time.
- https://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2008/08/aurora-village-center-aurora-avenue.html
- "History of Aurora Village", Shoreline Area News, 25 February 2017
- "Aurora Village 1987 and 1991", KIRO 7 News
Everett Skate Deck
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A skating rink was opened by Bobbie and Eric Englund at 2201 California St in 1961. The original building is now used as a sports arena.
The Englunds moved to the 19th Ave SE location in 1976. Daughter Teri Acklus inherited the property in 1979. Grandsons Ryan and Cory Acklus sold the 3.72 acre property for $2 million in 2022.
- "Skate Deck hopes to open for customers, not take donations", HeraldNet, 17 January 2021
- "Everett Skate Deck, a place of youth and romance, will close", HeraldNet, 7 March 2022
- rink-history.weebly.com/everett-skate-deck-everett-wa.html
Jimbo's Family Restaurant
We didn't eat at this restaurant very often and I don't recall ever wanting to eat there either. The Herald article says they were known for their burgers and their fish and chips, but I don't recall trying either of those as a kid. Their hot dogs didn't do anything for me.
James Anderson bought Bings Burgers in 1963 and renamed it Jimbo's. Which sounds like his nickname, so I suppose he named the restaurant after himself. He made a landmark out of the restaurant by erecting the large sign with the clock. The intersection of 196th and Hwy 99 was at that time the center of the newly incorporated city of Lynnwood. Interstate 5 came through Lynnwood in 1965 and the city would expand along 196th to meet it, but the location of the restaurant, which closed in 2008, is still prime commercial real estate.
Anderson's daughter Cindi Benoit took over the restaurant in 1983. She sold it to George Ageladaris in 1999.
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Keeler's Corner
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One of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood when I was a kid. Several sources say that it was built in 1927 when the Pacific Highway was straightened between the county line and Everett. When I was kid it was no longer used to pump gas and instead it was used as an antiques store.
The first road connecting Seattle with Everett went from Lake City to Bothell and then took the route of what is today the Bothell-Everett Hwy (SR 527). The road from Lake City to Bothell was completed in 1887 and it was a by-product of the Seattle, Lakeshore, and Eastern railway.
The North Trunk Road was finished from Seattle to the county line in 1912. The road is Aurora Ave today. It was extended to Edmonds in 1915. From the county line it went north on 84th Ave W to 212th St Sw, and took what is today called Bowdoin Way into Edmonds.
The 1924 Pacific Highway used the North Trunk Road. At 212th St SW it went east to 76th Ave W, then north to 196th St SW, then east to 36th Ave W, then north to 164th St SW, then east to the Bothell-Everett Highway.
I believe work began to straighten the Pacific Highway in 1924 and it was finished in 1927, but the map above gives what it calls the "Highway 99 Alignment" a date of 1932.
- "This Month in Edmonds History: North Trunk Road"
- "Transforming Highway 9", My Edmonds News, 11 May 2018
- "Lynnwood’s Keeler’s Corner Offers a Look Back in Time", Snohomish Talk, 5 May 2021
Larry's Market Oak Tree
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Larry McKinney opened his first store in central Seattle in 1964. Ten years later he bought the corner market that his father opened in 1945 near Greenlake. It was the store that he opened in Oak Tree Village in the mid 1980s—or according to another source, 1989—that pioneered the concept of a high end grocery. I guess the niche is occupied by Whole Foods today, but I remember Larry's as being more exciting. I spent $50 on caviar there as a Christmas gift for my dad. In 1997 I rented a room on the other side of Aurora. One of the best grocery stores ever was a short walk away, but I wasn't cooking then.
- "Larry's Markets, upscale icon, loses out to the competition", Seattle Times, 9 May 2006
- "Larry's Markets Seattle", www.groceteria.ca, 11 July 2006
Petosa's on Hwy 99 & Shelby Rd
When we moved to the Picnic Point neighborhood in 1976, there were no supermarkets nearby. There was a grocery named Petosa's on Hwy 99 and Shelby Rd. Petosa's was small but at least it had produce and a butcher's shop. The only other option in a 3 mile radius was the Day & Nite at 168th and 52nd. Day & Nite is still there, but it was larger back then if memory serves.
I think the Petosa's was run by the same Tom Petosa who opened the Petosa's Grocery in downtown Edmonds in 1986. It would have made sense for him to close his grocery on Hwy 99 after the larger Safeway opened at 148th in 1980. I haven't been able to find a picture of the original grocery on the internet, or much mention of the grocery at all. The current building, which contains a marijuana store, is not the building that housed the grocery.
Tom Petosa was from a large family and his siblings ran several restaurants in the area.
- "Petosas find their forte in restaurant business here", The Catholic Northwest Progress, 25 October 1974
- "Grocer Petosa’s generous spirit touched many", Seattle Times, 9 May 2005
- "Restaurant owner had sweet and spicy personality" HeraldNet, 17 December 2005
- "Edmonds’ Petosa’s Family Grocer to close", 26 December 2012
Toy Town
16809 Pacific Hwy, Lynnwood WA
The store opened in 1979. It was gone by 1982 when Toys "R" Us opened at the Alderwood Mall. My sister remembers an entire aisle devoted to Barbie dolls and accessories. I remember the Dungeons & Dragons and Avalon Hill box sets over cabinets with lead minis and polyhedral dice.
The building which is there today is I believe the same, though the facade might not be original. I remember it as being gray. The store had 12,000 sq ft of retail space. It seemed gloriously large, but the Toys "R" Us had 43,000 sq ft of space.
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