After a year of looking, Ballard tourist attraction and seller of practical necessities, Archie McPhee, has found a new home, and it's close to its old home.

The store will be packing up and moving by mid-2009 to Wallingford on the northeast corner of Stone Way North and North 45th Street in the building currently occupied by a state liquor store, said store manager Shana Iverson.

Archie McPhee had been located 10 blocks south of that location in Fremont until moving to Market Street in 1999.

Iverson said the store looked at dozens of locations and settled on Wallingford because the building has a cool, older supermarket vibe that will work well for it and the location is fantastic.

"Some of the places we were worried because they were really far outside the city," she said.

The new location is smaller than the Ballard store, which is housed in two separate buildings, so the move will require cutting down on inventory.

"We'll be small-ifying," Iverson said.

Janet Stillman, executive director of the Wallingford Neighborhood Office, said she is excited for Archie McPhee to be moving into the area and hopes that its status as a destination store for gag gifts will bring more people to Wallingford.

"It will be nice to have something other than the liquor store next to the Boys and Girls Club," she said.

Archie McPhee announced they would be leaving Ballard earlier this month because the property owner was not renewing their lease, only allowing them a month-to-month arrangement while they looked for a new location.

Iverson said the Wallingford site will be secure and allow them to operate there for many years to come, but she said she hopes the move isn't the end of the relationship between Ballard and Archie McPhee.

"We're excited we will still be close enough that our Ballard customers can follow us," she said.

Stillman said she thinks Archie McPhee opening up so close to Not a Number Cards and Gifts, a store offering similar products, may cause Wallingford to become home to a clump of novelty stores.

"We won't be the Center of the Universe," she said. "But, we'll be the funniest place on Earth."

Michael Harthorne may be reached at 783.1244 or michaelh@robinsonnews.com