At the start of November, Clear Cut Plastics relocated to Ballard – giving up the storefront on N 36th Street, near Dayton Ave N, between Bar House and Edge of Glass/Foxfire Gallery.
This is one of the last industrial/manufacturing businesses to be in the mainstream, pedestrian traffic area of Fremont. For much of its history, Fremont has had a hodge-podge of service, retail, restaurant and industrial businesses in its central business district. This mix gave the neighborhood its very creative and unique flavor but also created blank spaces for shoppers who could be deterred from exploring the shopping beyond them.
Fremont still has an industrial area, located adjacent to the commercial hub, on N 35th & N 34th, starting near Phinney Ave N and stretching to join the Ballard Industrial Area. This industrial zone allows for businesses like Theo Chocolate, Fremont Mischief Distillery and Glass Eye Studio, that must be in industrial areas but need foot traffic to thrive. This industrial area also houses businesses such as Asko Processing and Kvichak Marine/Vigor which not only provide vital products to the aerospace and maritime industries, respectively, but also well-paying, skilled, blue-collar jobs that employee a work force long at the foundation of our community.
According to reliable sources, Clear Cut relocated in order to consolidate its operations. The large storefront on N 36th, now vacant, may well house multiple businesses when repurposed. Neighbors regretted the loss of Diamond Machine Works when it vacated a large space on N 36th near Greenwood Ave N, but nearly everyone enjoys the three commercial concerns now located there (Sealevel Yoga, Café Con Todo, and Salsa Con Todo.)
At Fremocentrist.com, we wish Clear Cut great luck in maintaining its flourishing business in their new location, and look forward to meeting the new neighbors that will occupy the storefront in the, hopefully, near future!