We’ve spent the week discussing noted Seattle institutions that are going away. Sometimes, it seems one can’t document them as fast as they go.

Today, some more disappearances. I’ll miss ’em all.

Disappearance #1: The Wonder Bread bakery and thrift store was more than a source of solid union employment to a once run-down area. Its giant neon was a beacon, drawing you toward Seattle’s least whitebread neighborhood. A year after the company moved to the Tacoma suburbs, the Wonder plant is being replaced by a “mixed use project” (i.e., probably luxury housing above retail). At least seekers of cheap baked foods and snacks still have the (alas, Ding Dong-less) Gai’s thrift store just up the street.

Disappearance #2: The First Hill Food Center (which I’ve called the “First Hill Foo Center” after its occasionally incomplelely lit neon sign) was one of Seattle’s last surviving first-generation supermarkets (6,000 square feet or less). It was an indie (albeit allied with the Associated Grocers wholesale consortium) in a retail environment increasingly dominated by chains. Its beautifully rundown building also housed a martial-arts school, where the young Bruce Lee is believed to have once studied. It’s also going away for a condo-retail combine, to include a new supermarket that just won’t be the same.

Disappearance #3: Pistil Books and News was the kind of walk-in gathering place every neighborhood needs. It was Capitol Hill’s chief outlet for small-time zines (including mine). Its used-book selection was carefully curated to local tastes. It hosted regular readings and get-togethers. But it never provided its owners with much in the way of fiscal profits, and a looming rent increase gave them the excuse to get out (moving toward online old-book sales).

NEXT: Music to acompany the mattress mambo.

ELSEWHERE:

• A Wired piece a few years ago speculated on what might happen if artists, ravers, and other boho-types got together and all moved into an abandoned big-box strip-mall store. Now, it looks like the opportunity may be at hand, in hundreds of locations across the country….