BIZNOTE FOLLOWUP: 2 more days for Avalon Glassworks. So what about this year’s West Seattle Glass Float Hunt?

As we first reported in April, Avalon Glassworks‘ owners are retiring, and June 30 is their final day – so you have two more days to shop their retail store adjacent to the glass-blowing studio, 12 pm to 4 pm Monday and Tuesday.

(2025 photo courtesy West Seattle Glass Float Hunt)

For those wondering what this means for the annual West Seattle Glass Float Hunt, for which Avalon Glassworks has made the floats, we noticed this paragraph in a recent news release about city grants:

$29,100 to West Seattle Chamber of Commerce for the West Seattle Glass Float Hunt, taking place August 7 through August 16, 2026, is a free community art event that invites residents and visitors to explore neighborhoods across the West Seattle peninsula while searching for handblown glass floats hidden in parks, greenspaces, trails, public walkways, and participating businesses from Alki Avenue to Roxbury Street. Created by local glass artists, each float is a small piece of public art meant to be discovered, photographed, and shared. The hunt encourages people to experience West Seattle’s parks, neighborhoods, and small businesses in a new way while celebrating the region’s connection to Pacific Northwest glass artistry. It also serves as a small business activation and economic development effort that guides participants through neighborhood commercial districts and encourages visits to local shops, restaurants, cafés, and other businesses helping support the independent, local business culture in West Seattle. Community match: $29,320

Since the news release specifically mentioned the Chamber, which has partnered with the West Seattle Junction Association on the float hunt, we asked executive director Rachel Porter about its status, and she replied that Avalon Glassworks has already made this year’s floats: “We were able to get them made before they close, so this is our last year with them at the helm of the glass blowing. The goal will always be to use a West Seattle business, and we are hoping the next owners of Avalon will help us keep this tradition alive! We don’t know who we will work with next year, but fingers crossed that someone buys Avalon soon.”

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