Home » Not A Number Owner Pledges To Help Fremonsters Have Fun

Not A Number Owner Pledges To Help Fremonsters Have Fun

by Kirby Lindsay, posted 4 November 2011

 

Ready To Say Howdy, the owners of Not A Number Cards & Gifts stand in front of their new Fremont location in mid-Oct 2011 Photo by K. Lindsay

On November 11, 2011 at 11a, Kara Ceriello and John DeLeeuw invite friends, fans and all Fremonsters to celebrate the Grand Opening of the new location for Not A Number Cards & Gifts – now in the incredibly fortunate, indescribably delighted and/or soon-to-be amazed Fremont neighborhood, at 720 N 35th St.

Where is that?  Those who know how much fun Not A Number provided during their near to six years in Wallingford, and before on Queen Anne, still struggle to visualize the address.  Not A Number will be found almost across the street from the Fremont Branch of the Seattle Public Library, in a building with Literacy Source, Fremont Healing Arts and Judy’s Alterations – in the space Bellefleur Lingerie used to have.

A Long, Strange Trip…To Fremont

Leaving Wallingford has been a disappointment for many fans of the popular shop, as well as Ceriello.  “I tried to look around Wallingford,” she acknowledged, but they didn’t find a space.  They wanted something larger than what they had when it proved too much of a squeeze.  “It broke my heart to have to get rid of the play table,” she explained about their last down-sizing, “we had to send customers to other stores because we didn’t have the space for items.”

They closed the small Wallingford location on October 1st, with plans to relocate to Ballard where they’d found a space and were waiting for a lease to sign.  As a toy and gift store, they knew they must be open for the holidays to survive – and with a specialty in political humor, they’d wanted to celebrate Election Day, November 8th, with their customers.  When lease negotiations in Ballard dragged on, and their stock sat under tarps on the lawn of their Crown Hill home, the couple finally sought a different space.

The new location for Not A Number Cards & Gifts, next door to Judy's Alterations, on North 35th Street Photo by K. Lindsay, Oct 2011

They’d wanted to be in Fremont, of course, but Ceriello had avoided invading the territory of another popular gift store.  “We always sent people to Portage Bay Goods,” she explained, “and I insisted on getting [owner] Sue’s blessing before I’d sign the lease.”  When Sue Sanem said sure, they completed the lease and started on plans to restore the play table.

The new location will be slightly larger than their final space in Wallingford, but smaller than what they’d looked at in Ballard.  “We’ll have more toys, and retro toys,” Ceriello reported, like jacks, whoopee cushions and Rock ‘em-Sock ‘em Robots.  They also plan to carry more Archie McPhee items, now that they’ve moved farther from Wallingford’s infamous novelty vendor.  Overall, she confided, “We promise way more goofy stuff!”

A Place To Think And Play…In Fremont

A tried-and-true store, run by experienced entrepreneurs, with a dedicated following can only benefit the business district – particularly in an unstable economy.  However, in DeLeeuw and Ceriello, Fremont also gains award-winning community promoters.

Not even open yet, Kara Ceriello (she's a Tea Bagger) and (mad scientist) John DeLeeuw stood in front of their shop distributing treats on Halloween 2011 Photo by K. Lindsay

“We are very involved in the community,” Ceriello said, “and very into the idea of community.”  DeLeeuw still serves on the Wallingford Community Council, while Ceriello served for 5 ½ years on the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce.  She has already accepted a nomination to the Fremont Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, attended her first Fremont retailers committee meeting, and both she and DeLeeuw distributed treats, on October 31st, from the front of their store during Trick-or-Treat In Fremont.

“Community is important,” Ceriello said recently, “and that is how the small businesses do best – is if they know people.”  Not A Number helped launch the Wallingford Shop Local campaign, and Ceriello and DeLeeuw always recommend and support the stores around them.  “We always made a concerted effort to meet our neighbors,” she said, “word-of-mouth is the best method of advertising there is.”

Less than a week after signing their lease, the owners of Not A Number had signs up and merchandise on display. Photo by K. Lindsay, 19 Oct 11

“We’re just so delighted to be real Fremonsters now,” Ceriello said, and to bring Fremont shoppers ‘stuff to make you think, stuff to make you smile.’  “It’s very important that you think, especially in these days,” she insisted, and Not A Number has items to make visitors think, yet she also insists, “it’s really important to be goofy, you just have to!”

With Not A Number set to open on 11/11/11 at 11a, its arrival appears likely to strengthen the neighborhood motto ‘De Libertas Quirkas’ (‘The Freedom To Be Peculiar’.)  As Ceriello (a grown-up Girl Scout) pledged, “on my honor, I will try to do my duty to Fremont, and the Country, and we will have fun, and help other people have fun, at all times!”


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©2011 Kirby Lindsay.  This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws.  Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.

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