By TERRYL ASLA
tasla@soundpublishing.com

KINGSTON — Expansion, it seems, is in the air in Kingston.

Several businesses are celebrating their grand openings and other local businesses are expanding or moving. But there are some questions about what the future holds and what role the Port of Kingston may play.

DOWNTOWN KINGSTON
Presently, there is only one vacant storefront downtown. New or expanding businesses in downtown Kingston include the Paisley Whale, Kingston Psychic Readings by Christina, D’vine Wine, Tradicion y Mas/Mi Sueno Catering, and Salon Sorellina.

Further out, Harbor Hair Design has expanded into a new, larger salon at Kitsap Crossing across from Albertsons.

The Paisley Whale
11264 NE Highway 104
“It’s always been a dream of mine to have my own store,” said Marie Deno, proprietor of the Paisley Whale. The business specializes in antiques and collectibles, as well as vintage and hand-crafted items.

“About seven years ago we were gong to open a store, but I got pregnant. After the second child, I felt the need for community and started Kingston’s monthly flea market. That took off and it got to the point where I was loading and unloading a box truck of stuff, and that was starting to get old when the owner of this building said she had space available and would I be interested? I said ‘Yes!’”

“That was last September,” Marie’s aunt, Betty Johnson, chimed in. She and her husband — who makes hand-crafted wooden items, including wooden wands for budding wizards — are one of the dozen vendors who currently rent sales space inside the Paisley Whale.

“Most of them are friends from the flea market,” Marie said. Items for sale include antique furniture, vintage cameras and science fiction collectibles, as well as original paintings and wood-working—and the list is growing.

The Paisley Whale manager-in-training is Marie’s three-year-old, Maple May, who likes to help (re) arrange items on the shelves.

“She has her own unique classification system. Shiny. Pink. Sticky,” Aunt Betty said with a smile.

Kingston Psychic
The colorful storefront of Kingston Psychic Readings by Christina is just a few doors up the street from the Paisley Whale. The sign on its front door says its hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. (Christina apparently knew in advance that this reporter was coming and, not wishing to be interviewed, went out and locked the door behind her.

Tradicion y Mas and Mi Sueno Catering
11227 NE Highway 104
In English, “Mi Sueno” means “My Dream,” and the six-year dream of owner Anita “Anna” Moore was to have both a catering business and a sit-down restaurant. And now that dream is a reality — or it will be as soon as the rest of the tables and chairs arrive.

“Our new place is more of a restaurant than a takeout,” Moore said. “We have lots of sit-down [area] inside, and in the spring we plan to build a deck at the back that will offer diners a waterfront view.”

Moore opened Mi Sueno six-and-half years ago as a catering business. In 2015, she opened a downtown storefront but quickly outgrew it. Two weeks ago, they moved to the current location, right up from the ferry dock. The new restaurant is open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The popular Taco Tuesdays will continue and Moore has added a breakfast menu.

“We will have our official opening at the beginning of October,” Moore said. “By then, the tables, the menus, everything will be done.

d’Vine Wines Wine Bar
25960 Central Ave.
The d’Vine Wines Wine Bar is a small wine bar and specialty grocery that specializes in boutique Pacific Northwest wines and small vineyard imports. It enjoys a five-star rating on www.tripadvisor.com. According to information provided to the Chamber of Commerce by owner Micki Monroe, the establishment opens at 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

“[It’s] is a nice place to meet up with old friends or make new ones,” Monroe said. “You’ll find our friendly, relaxed ambiance great for having a conversation while enjoying a glass of wine or beer at our bar. And for your special occasions, our knowledgeable staff can help you select the perfect bottle(s) to make your event even better.”

Salon Sorellina
10801 Highway 104, Suite 1
Ever wonder where all of the stylists and the nail technician went when Holly Mae’s Salon lost its lease and closed? Wonder no more. They moved up the road to Salon Sorellina.

So where did the name come from?

“My father and brothers have been in the business for a long time,” said Tara Donaldson, the salon’s owner who was born and raised in Kingston. “So when I opened my salon, we decided it should be called ‘sorellina,’ which means ‘little sister.’”

Donaldson has been a licensed stylist for 12 years. But while she was working part-time at Sally Mae’s, she held on to her day job at Naval Base Kitsap — Bangor as a full-time civilian electronics mechanic.

When Sally Mae’s lost its lease, “it seemed like a good time to open this salon and become a stylist/owner,” Donaldson said.

Salon Sorellina has six stations, and the other stylists and the nail technician are self-employed.

KINGSTON CROSSING
Harbor Hair Design
8208 NE Highway 104, Suite 106
Harbor Hair Design, located across the parking lot from Albertsons at Kingston Crossing, is so new (it opened Aug. 9) that it doesn’t have a permanent sign yet, just a vinyl banner. But inside, the chairs are full. Because Harbor Hair isn’t a new business, it’s just the latest expansion of a thriving business.

“In my first building here, I started out with two chairs,” owner Lynn Hammond said. “We outgrew that and moved to a location where we had three chairs. Then another move to six chairs — that was across from the [Kingston] lumber yard and a liquor store. And now we have eight chairs.”

The new salon incorporates all of the experience she has gained over the years. Take for instance, the lighting.

“A lot of salons have poor lighting,” Hammond said. “The stylists can’t see what they’re doing, and the fluorescents made the customer look awful.”

So Hammond put a great deal of time and effort into a new lighting system that provides flattering, even lighting at each station.

Not only is the design different, so is her business model.

“Working as an independent contractor can be hard for young stylists just getting started [as they haven’t yet built up a clientele], said Hammond, who had been an independent contractor in the past. “So my stylists are employees.” If that weren’t enough to keep her busy, Hammond is also an educator for Redken products which takes her on the road frequently.

“I’ve been doing this for 44 years,” she said. “I can’t imagine not doing it.”

Green Tiki Cannabis
Owner Christy Stanley says her Green Tiki store will be “opening soon” at Kingston Crossing. The store will sell medical and recreational marijuana.

PORT OF KINGSTON
At the Port of Kingston Marina, the re-roofing of the covered main area is going out to bid and the port is preparing to purchase and install 150 new safety ladders for the docks. That’s the good news from the marina.

The bad news is that transient moorage — guest boaters — is off about 10 percent for the summer (June through September), not only at Kingston, but also at the nearby ports of Poulsbo and Brownsville.

“I’ve talked to the other port managers,” Port of Kingston Executive Director Jim Pivarnik said. “The three of us are going to be getting together soon to discuss what we can do establish a coalition of the small ports in North Kitsap.”

Pivarnik worries that this decline as part of a trend away from the big boats their parents favored by a younger generation. Kayaks and canoes are replacing power boats with all of their expense and upkeep.

While working on this issue, Pivarnik said he and the port commissioners are thinking more broadly.

“We need to think outside the tourism box,” Pivarnik said. “We need to be helping develop businesses that will support family wages. As a port district, under RCW 53.08, we are the government agency responsible for development [in unincorporated Kingston]. Four million cars a year come through Kingston …  We have 4,500 visitors. How do we leverage that?”

He acknowledges that not everyone supports the idea of economic development. “There are those in the community that would like us to remain a bedroom community where people live here and work on the east side [of the Sound].”

Pivarnik believes all Kingston residents need to have a voice in the future of the area. To that end, the port has applied for and been awarded a $35,000 grant from the state Community Economic Revitalization Board. The port is matching it with $12,000 and using that money to hire Heartland LLC to conduct a study of ways Kingston and the port might go forward.

“Community outreach meetings are going to be an important part of that study,” Pivarnik said. “We really want the residents to speak up and have a voice in their future.”

That future will need to include the port’s many holdings:

— Kingston Marina, with 260 slips and 56 guest slips.
— Washington state ferry landing.
— North Beach, the quarter-mile beach north of the ferry dock.
— The Kingston Yacht Club building.
— Two properties, one of them residential with a house and dock.
— Mike Wallace Park.
— A soon-to-be-developed park above the ferry parking lot.

“We’re in the park-development business,” Pivarnik said. He sees enhancing community life as an important ongoing role for the port. “We belong to the Kingston Stakeholders [organization],” Pivarnik said. “These are business people who are very philanthropic and want to make Kingston better place to live.”

When asked what other factors might impact that goal, he mentions Arborwood, the proposed passenger-only ferry, and the empty Kingston Lumber property downtown.

“Arborwood may ultimately have over 600 homes and a shopping area,” he said. “But that’s a 20-year buildout plan. Ultimately, a rising tide floats all boats, so that could be a good thing.

“When it comes to the proposed foot ferry, my biggest concern is parking … Kitsap Transit has offered to bus people in from a parking lot by Albertsons [at Kingston Crossing]. But I think people are going to want to park close to the ferry docks.”  The ferry dock in question is the same dock that was once used by the now-defunct Port of Kingston passenger-only ferry, SoundRunner. The infrastructure is all in place, Pivarnik said, but the waiting area would need to be repaired or replaced.

Pivarnik reserved his biggest concerns — and biggest dream — for the empty Kingston Lumber property. “There are three lots zoned industrial and two lots zones retail and they’re asking $2.5 million. It made great business sense for the Wagner family to move the business further out [by the Port Gamble exit on state Highway 104], where they had more room and more trade. But now we need to re-purpose the site.

“I’ve talked to the other members of Kingston Stakeholders (including Tom Wagner, the property owner] about finding investors willing to buy it and turn it into a destination place. I can see something like a Pike’s Place Market, where the Tribes could sell their seafood.”

The colorful storefront of Kingston Psychic Readings by Christina is just a few doors up the street from the Paisley Whale. (Terryl Asla / Staff photo)

In English, “Mi Sueno” means “My Dream,” and the six-year dream of owner Anita “Anna” Moore was to have both a catering business and a sit-down restaurant. And now that dream is a reality. At right, Abbie Wagner. (Terryl Asla / Staff photo)

The d’Vine Wines Wine Bar is a small wine bar and specialty grocery that specializes in boutique Pacific Northwest wines and small vineyard imports. It enjoys a five-star rating on www.tripadvisor.com. According to information provided to the Chamber of Commerce by owner Micki Monroe, the establishment opens at 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. (Terryl Asla / Staff photo)

Tara Donaldson, owner of Salon Sorellina, was born and raised in Kingston. (Terryl Asla / Staff photo)