Bordertown to replace Pepper Sisters
Bordertown Mexican Grill is coming to Bellingham, this time with a more permanent presence. The Blaine-based Mexican restaurant on Jan. 6 confirmed on social media — and with a large “NEW LOCATION” banner above the physical doors — that it planned to open at 1055 N. State St. in downtown Bellingham. Bordertown also operates a food truck in Lynden at 312 3rd St.; for a time, the food truck was located at 500 Kentucky St. in Bellingham’s Sunnyland neighborhood. A Bordertown rep said the State Street spot should open in March.
At the end of December, Pepper Sisters confirmed what many suspected: Following a “summer hiatus” that began in July 2024, the southwestern restaurant would not reopen at 1055 N. State St. The restaurant wrote on its Facebook page that after 36 years, “the gist of it is that it is a wildly difficult time to run a restaurant, and after all of the pandemic and post-pandemic hoopla, we are tuckered, as the effort and challenges grew.”
Flip Kids & Maternity moves
Consignment shop Flip Kids & Maternity has moved to a building on the border of the Sunnyland neighborhood and downtown Bellingham. The store, which features “pre-owned, name brand children’s clothing” and maternity wear, opened Jan. 3 at 1605 N. State St. after leaving 1512 Ellis St. a few blocks away. Store staff said outdoor signs are still to come. Flip’s updated location had been home to Fitness Gear & Training.
Party City to close
The Party’s over: National party supply retailer Party City is shutting down all of its locations, including the one in Skagit County at 2030 S. Burlington Blvd. The chain, which filed for bankruptcy a second time in December 2024 after emerging from its protections once, wrote on its website that like many retailers, it’s “been operating in an immensely challenging environment with inflationary pressures on both costs and consumer spending.” The Burlington store, one of nearly 700, is promoting a closing sale. Local staff expect it to remain open until the end of February.
Alaska drops PAE destinations
Alaska Airlines has ended nonstop flights to two destinations from Paine Field in Everett and turned one year-round destination seasonal, according to representatives of the airline and the operator of the PAE passenger terminal. Dropped from the Seattle Paine Field Air Terminal destination list: Anchorage — which began flying in November 2022 — and Tucson, a seasonal route. In addition, an Alaska spokesperson said Honolulu, announced as year-round service prior to its November 2023 launch, is now classified as “winter seasonal.”
Alaska’s Ray Lane noted that the airline still serves eight destinations from PAE with 11 daily flights, including twice-daily, year-round service to Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco, and daily service to Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County. Palm Springs (alongside Honolulu) remains a seasonal PAE destination. The dropped routes, described as “underperforming,” apparently left the schedule in the second half of 2024. In January 2025, Alaska added a fourth daily flight between Bellingham and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
County unemployment rises
Monthly unemployment rates ticked a bit higher for Whatcom and Skagit counties in November 2024. The state Employment Security Department issued preliminary, non-seasonally adjusted figures of 4.6% for Whatcom County and 4.9% for Skagit County. That’s up from October’s revised rates of 4.3% for Whatcom and 4.6% for Skagit, but comparable to the November 2023 revised rates of 4.6% and 5.0%, respectively.
Living costs higher here
New data has been released that supports suspicions it costs more to live in parts of Northwest Washington state than in other parts of the country. The “Regional Price Parities” statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, posted in December 2024 with 2023 data, are designed to make it simple to compare price levels between different parts of the country.
The report found the Bellingham metro area is 4.1% more expensive than the U.S. average for the total of all items measured — goods and services like housing (including rents), utilities and more. The Mount Vernon-Anacortes metro area was 6% pricier. By comparison, Seattle metro area prices are 13% over the U.S. average. Washington as a whole was 8.6% higher, tied with Hawaii as the fourth priciest state.
Frank Catalano writes about business and related topics for CDN; reach him at frankcatalano@cascadiadaily.com.
