Farewell To Keeg's On Broadway

Say it isn't so. Keeg's on Broadway is closing. The home-furnishings store, known for its Copenhagen-blue facade, will bid farewell March 20.

Keeg's Eastside store in north Bellevue won't be affected by the closure.

Keeg's Broadway store is the last survivor of the '50s, when the street functioned as decorators' row, home to such posh furniture and designer stores as Del Teet, McBreen's and Skewes.

Walter Kerr, who opened the store with partner Jim Egbert (Keeg's is a blend of the two names) on April 24, 1953, reminisced yesterday.

He said, "Jim and I both graduated from the University of Illinois, but it took architect Al Baumgardner to introduce us. We stayed together until Jim decided to do his own thing (open Egbert's on First Avenue). We split the merchandise right down the middle."

Kerr and his wife, Betty Kerr, then the sole owners, started "backing out the door" in 1990, turning over management to their son, Penn Kerr. Penn, who opened the Bellevue store, now manages both locations.

In the past 41 years, Keeg's has attracted a range of customers.

A young lawyer named Tom Foley shopped there for contemporary accessories. Another customer was Mrs. D.E. Frederick of Frederick & Nelson. She would arrive during the "no parking 4-6 p.m." hours, forcing her chauffeur to circle the block while she shopped.

Kerr has mixed feelings about the closure. "The neighborhood has been good to us," he said.

Broadway Improvement Association director Gordon Iles concurred, saying, "It's really sad. The old days of Broadway as a furniture row are gone. The market is changing."

Happy ending: Lake City resident Ruth Kramer has been singing the praises of the Postal Service. Last Friday, she went to the Northgate postal station to mail a sheaf of letters. Without thinking, she also stamped and mailed a blank envelope she'd picked up at her bank.

It wasn't until later she discovered she'd mailed the unsealed envelope filled with cash - 11 $20 bills. Although she thought it was hopeless, Kramer showed up at the "loose in the mail" office at the terminal on South Lander Street.

Kramer says, "I told my story to a charming man, Lee Crosby. He pulled out the envelope, which wasn't even sealed. There it was. The entire $220."

Flip-flop: Former Democratic state Chairwoman Karen Marchioro - now a political consultant - made good use of a Christmas present, a cookie cutter shaped like the state of Washington. She baked cookies and made punch to take to Olympia to celebrate 43rd District Sen. Cal Anderson's swearing in.

But - oops! - she frosted several of the cookies on the wrong side. Said Marchioro, "That placed the 43rd District - a liberal Seattle district - somewhere on the Idaho border, right near Spokane."

School days: King County Executive Gary Locke is spending his Tuesday nights taking Cantonese classes in the International District. One source says Locke's accent is good but adds, "It's a little odd to see the county executive sitting in a classroom."

Timely remarks: This just off the fax machine: What time is it? It's Gingrich Mean Time.

Jean Godden's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Local News section of The Times. Her phone is 464-8300.