YAKIMA, Wash. -- Happy birthday, Shop Talk.
One year ago today, we launched the Shop Talk blog.

And boy has it been a busy year — we covered the closure of several big retailers, the opening of several new restaurants and everything in between.

The blog has had more than 47,000 page views since launching, and we’re hoping for even more views in the next year.
So to start off the second year of the blog, I would like to present my first Shop Talk Shopping Cart Awards to give some of the highlights of the blog so far.

The Build It and They Will Come Award goes to ... Subway.
Subway did an all-out blitz of openings this year. With plenty of existing stores, the sandwich shop recently opened stores at Westpark Shopping Center and inside the new West Valley Walmart.

A third proposed store for downtown Yakima got former Yakima City Council member Ron Bonlender ranting since it will be in direct competition with the Sub Shop of Yakima, which is located just a few doors down from the proposed site.

Honorable mention goes to Walgreens who opened a store at Seventh and Yakima avenues earlier this year and is scheduled to open a third store, also by the new Walmart, in the next few weeks.

The Hurry Up and Open Already Award goes to .... Forever 21.
The trendy clothing retailer seem to have it in the bag when it won several leases of the now-defunct Gottschalks, including one at the Valley Mall in Union Gap. Forever 21 vice president Larry Meyer indicated that a store could open by late summer.

Well it’s mid-October and no store seems to be in sight.

I understand that lease negotiations can be a delicate thing, but I know plenty of readers who are eager for it to open.
Honorable mention goes to J.C. Penney simply because it seems that everyone still wants one to return to the Yakima area (despite one being in operation in Sunnyside). I also have a feeling that a certain mall owner is still trying to get that store here.

The Seven Lives Award goes to ... Russillo’s Pizza and Gelato.
The pizza joint in downtown Yakima closed in December 2007 and built a lot of enemies in the form of former employees who didn’t get paid.

The restaurant opened at Track 29 — where it opened its first store — earlier this year under a new corporation backed by former KIT-AM afternoon show host Mike Bastinelli and former Yakima Beetle Lonnie Davis.


The Best Costume Award goes to ... Dreamgirls Espresso Bar.
This new espresso stand certainly got plenty of attention when it opened in February. It had sexy coffee drink names and baristas dressed in ... well it did prompt the Yakima City Council to pass an indecent exposure ordinance prohibiting “cleavage of the buttocks.”

Honorable mention goes to fellow “sexpresso” stands Brewlesque and Moulin Brew.

The Most Frequent Commenter Award goes to ... Graffitibrad.
Graffitibrad was one of the first people to comment on the blog and has kept it up. Comments included ones on the West Valley Walmart, and all the stores he would like to see in the Valley Mall. Quite the talkative one. Keep it up.

Honorable mentions go to lobo and lowervalley who both gave plenty of comments as well.

Well I think I’ve said enough. Thanks for a great first year and here’s to year two of Shop Talk.
And as always all your comments and feedback are welcome.

-- Mai Hoang

Reach blogger Mai Hoang by commenting on this entry or by emailing her at mhoang@yakimaherald.com.
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