The back wall of the old gas station at 232 Front Street North has an Owl Cigar sign painted on it. It was turned toward the railroad tracks, back when trains were the main way in and out of Issaquah, and passengers could read it through their windows. It turned up during the work to restore the building to how it looked in 1944, when it was the Hailstone Feed Store and Shell Gasoline Station.
Starting the day after Thanksgiving, that building becomes the Historic Shell Holiday Shop. It opens Friday through Sunday only, from Thanksgiving to New Year's, and closes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Daily hours are posted on the Downtown Issaquah Association's site, which is worth a look before you head over. The big weekend events on Front Street are scheduled for days the shop is open. The weeknight events, including the city's tree lighting, are held somewhere else or at a different hour.
A building that has changed jobs before
Some history explains why the shop fits this building. Historians think it may have started as a house in the late 1890s. By 1902 records show it was a warehouse and grocery, and by the 1940s it was a feed store and gasoline station.
The building was landmarked in 2003. The Downtown Issaquah Association then restored it with help from the City of Issaquah, private donations and volunteers. A 2020–2021 refresh used grants to add modern amenities, replace dry rot and redo the roof. For most of the year it's rented by the hour as a museum and meeting space, and the garage and meeting room together hold up to 49 people.
So a holiday shop is just the latest in a long line of uses. It also means the shop lives inside a small, borrowed space with limited hours. That's one reason so much of the season takes place on the sidewalk outside it.
The weekends, laid out
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26, so the shop's first open day is Friday, Nov. 27. Here is how its open days line up with the rest of downtown's calendar:
| Shop weekend | What else is on Front Street |
|---|---|
| Fri–Sun, Nov. 27–29 | Shop Local Saturday artisan market Nov. 28; Artist Sunday market and Local Author Fair Nov. 29 |
| Fri–Sun, Dec. 4–6 | KidStage Footloose opens Dec. 4 at the Hunt Family Theatre |
| Fri–Sun, Dec. 11–13 | Historically Hip Artisan Market returns Dec. 12–13 |
| Fri–Sun, Dec. 18–20 | Final weekend of Footloose |
| Sat–Sun, Dec. 26–27 | Shop closed Christmas Day, Friday the 25th; Come From Away closes Dec. 27 |
Christmas Day 2026 lands on a Friday, so the shop's usual three-day weekend shrinks to two that week. If someone on your list is still waiting for a handmade gift on Dec. 26, Saturday and Sunday are your last holiday weekend before New Year's.
The opening weekend packs the most into two days
The Historically Hip Artisan Market leans heavily on the shop's first weekend. Makers set up outside the Historic Shell Station on Nov. 28 and 29, and in the Experience Tea and Breezeway area. Saturday is billed as Shop Local Saturday and Sunday as Artist Sunday. The market listing gives 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Downtown Issaquah Association lists leather handbags, cashmere scarves, paper art, candles, body oils, glass, wools, wood ornaments, jewelry and paintings among what will be for sale.
Sunday is the busiest day. The Historically Hip Local Author Fair runs from noon to 3 p.m. on Nov. 29. It's hosted by the Downtown Issaquah Association, the Issaquah Library and the Friends of Issaquah Library, and local authors sell their physical books directly to readers. There are books for adults, teens and kids across a range of genres. The fair is free and open to all ages, and the association says there is plenty of free parking.
The author fair's three hours fit inside the market's five, so one Sunday afternoon can cover all of it:
- Arrive at 11 a.m. and browse the makers outside the Shell Station while the crowd is still thin.
- Walk over to the Experience Tea and Breezeway area for the rest of the artisan market.
- Spend the middle of the day at the Local Author Fair, which runs noon to 3.
- Finish back at the Historic Shell Holiday Shop before the market packs up at 4.
If you can only make one day that weekend, Sunday has the most going on.
The second market weekend
The artisan market comes back on Dec. 12 and 13, again on a Saturday and Sunday the shop is open, and again 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. By then the Thanksgiving rush is over and there are still almost two weeks until Christmas. That makes the second market a good time to pick up gifts for people you'll see later in the season, or to go back for something you passed on in November.
For families, that weekend also falls in the middle of the KidStage run. Footloose plays Dec. 4–20 at Village Theatre's Hunt Family Theatre, 120 Front Street North. That's on the same street as the Shell Station, so a performance and a market visit can share a day.
The weeknights happen somewhere else
Downtown's shopping happens on weekends. Its lights and music happen on weeknights, and none of the three weeknight events are held at the Shell Station.
Thursday, Nov. 19: the tree lighting, up in the Highlands. Issaquah's Holiday Tree Lighting is at Village Green Park, 2550 NE Park Drive, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. This year is the third annual lighting. Highlands Council hosts it, with sponsorship from Highlands Fiber Network, Puget Sound Energy and Issaquah Ice Cream Trike. There's free hot chocolate, apple cider and cookies, plus carolers, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and visits with Issaquah Police Department and Eastside Fire & Rescue. Mayor Mark Mullet flips the switch on the big tree at 5:15 p.m. It's one week after this post goes up, and a week before the Shell Station opens for the season.
Thursday, Dec. 3: Caroling at the Depot. Downtown's own gathering is at the Issaquah Depot Museum, 78 1st Ave NE, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there for photos, with hot chocolate and candy canes. The Depot sits beside the tracks the Owl Cigar sign once faced. On a Thursday evening the holiday shop is closed and the gathering shifts to the old rail depot.
Monday, Dec. 21: Yuletide on Front. The Downtown Issaquah Association marks the winter solstice with Yuletide on Front, its Make Music Day Winter celebration. It runs 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. along Front Street in historic downtown, with indoor and outdoor activities. People are invited to bring bells or other instruments and play along. It's the only big downtown event set on a Monday, because the solstice falls on that date. The shop will have been closed since Sunday.
Theater runs through the whole season
Village Theatre's Issaquah run of Come From Away is already open by the time you read this. It runs Nov. 10 through Dec. 27, which covers every shop weekend and every weeknight event above. It closes the same weekend the Shell Station has its last open days before New Year's, a two-day weekend because Christmas falls on Friday.
So a resident could build almost any December day downtown around the show. On a Saturday, that might mean the artisan market at 11, the holiday shop afterward, then a performance. On Thursday the 3rd, it could be caroling at the Depot at 6 followed by the theater. The show runs on every type of day the season offers. The Shell Station opens on three days a week.
Planning around the Shell Station's schedule is really a question of timing: when to go, how long to stay, and which weekend fits your family. If you'd also like to talk through timing for a move, or just get a sense of what your home is worth before the new year, the Laura Papritz Team is glad to help. Start with a free, no-pressure home valuation whenever it suits you, whether that's a weekday or one of the weekends the Shell Station is open.
