Riddell Square aka Redwood Plaza long had as its biggest draw a truly sad-looking casino, which moved out and sat empty for years. It formerly had a nitelife of sorts, with the casino, liquor store, and two bars, so drunkards liked to get in fights in the parking lot (there was even a murder); but all that's gone now, the place is no longer scary, and there's an ethnically diverse church to replace the casino.
The run-down strip was mall built to 1970s specifications and only ever superficially updated. There's been a cinema there for ages, with four screens. It changed from Olympic Cinemas to Tracyton Movie House in 2021 (though this is East Bremerton, not Tracyton), with plans that make it sound like it could be a real center of joy for youth and maybe entire families, like a 1990s game parlor and big rental possibilities; time will tell if any of that works out.
It's such an accessible location it seems like it should be a fine place to have a business but so many have failed and there's always a space waiting for lease. A store for disc golf and other sports equipment, where you could get sports uniforms with screen printing, opened and closed so fast my head swam (it seems to have immediately moved to Wheaton Way as 360 Disc Golf). An automobile license place was very useful but the decrepit plumbing in the mall blew up and flooded the place so they moved far, far away. Eventually they partially reopened but By Appointment Only, a nuisance.
There's drive-tru banking. A substance abuse clinic handily near a brewery. A full service pet groomer with self-service pet washing space with walk-ins acceptable. A recording studio called Boom House. Clothing store for chubsters, useful to me. Computer repairman. Dentist. The oddly named Little P. I. "oriental food mart" as they call themselves, inexpensive and definitely worth a visit. Nothing that shouts, ooo, gotta check that out; there is no magnet store (Ivar's restaurant was the biggest draw way back in the 1990s, wish that had remained). But the lovely Wilco Farm Store is practically across the street in a bigger strip mall. read more