Thursday, May 31, 2012

Whistle Stop Co-op


Image from The Whistle Stop Co-op's website

Gandhi advises that we should be the change we wish to see in the world. Mona Lee and Dick Burkhart are putting that idea into action in the form of the Whistle Stop Co-op in Seattle. Packing a bike shop and a coffee shop together in a small space that Mona describes as "a slightly glorified single wide trailer landscaped all around with little native plants struggling to take root at a busy intersection," the Whistle Stop is trying not to make a profit, but to make a place. Like anything worthwhile, this is not an easy thing to do and Mona honestly chronicles some of her fears in this post on her blog.

On a sunny day last fall, shortly after the Whistle Stop opened, I made my way from Issaquah to Seattle. I unfortunately picked a time when the bike shop wasn't open but the coffee I had was wonderful. If the Whistle Stop was in my neighborhood, I'd be there every day.

Seattle has a lot of great bike shops and enough coffee shops to make the caffeine levels of the Puget Sound a subject of some concern, but I really hope that there turns out to be room in Seattle for the Whistle Stop Co-op. Places like the Whistle Stop Co-op make the world a better place.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA


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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:39 AM

    we went there last fall, excited that such a wonderful place had materialized right down the street from our house. The young girl that worked there was certainly friendly enough, my husband is gregarious and loves to talk bikes, so he was excited when the owner appeared. I expected a wonderful conversation, but it was completely flat. The owner was not really interested in talking, not about bikes, not about his travels. It became very uncomfortable, so we left and never returned.

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  2. unite tyre changing machine2:17 AM

    This is really nice. Here in our place we have a few bicycle shops and yet so many coffee shops. I'll keep visiting for more of your posts.

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