David and Carol Entrikin, owners of Ballard Bookcase Company (4611 11th Ave. NW) are retiring after 40 successful years of business in Ballard.

We began in 1977 with Al's Second Hand, an antique furniture business on Historic Ballard Avenue. We could never meet the demand for bookcases and so, in 1982, began manufacturing a line of inexpensive, all wood bookcases in limited sizes. The business did well enough that we hired woodworkers, and expanded our shop. Eventually the bookcase business became the tail that wagged the dog, and in 1991 we eliminated antiques and changed our name to the Ballard Bookcase Company. In 2003 we bought our building at the corner of NW Ballard Way and 11th Ave. NW and for the last 13 years have both built our products and sold them from the same location. Ballard Bookcase has just celebrated its 25th year, and we are celebrating 40 years in business. It is time to retire.

We want to thank the thousands of customers who have not only purchased bookcases but have contracted us to build libraries, entertainment centers and bookcase improvements to their homes. Among our accomplishments we can proudly point to the entire library of the Seattle School with more than 140 maple bookcases, The Assumption St. Bridget School library, the Valley School library, numerous bookstores that we both designed and built, including BLMF in the Pike Place Market and B. Brown Books on Stoneway N. A large gallery of our past custom projects can be seen on our website, www.ballardbookcase.com.

When we began in 1978, Ballard was a sleepy part of Seattle and Ballard Avenue was a street lined with more bars than customers. Look at it today, Ballard Avenue offers a choice of fantastic restaurants and shops and Ballard has become the area where people want to live. It has been wonderful for us to participate in the transformation while offering the community our beautiful products.

Saturday, April 2nd is our final day. We still have a smattering of bookcases and displays, including antique oak office furniture. The James G. Murphy company will conduct an online auction of our equipment and fixtures in the middle of April. The actual date will be announced on our website.

Thank you so much.

David and Carol Entrikin