Lynwood Center's Oldest Storefronts Are Putting Their Futures in Writing, and the Pinball Machines Are Staying

"Dad, any other buyer that's gonna come in is gonna change the name, but if you sell the store to me, I contractually will commit to keeping it Walt's as long as I live." Tyler Hannon told the Bainbridge Island Review that this is what he said to his father when Walt Hannon was thinking about selling the market to someone outside the family.

A promise in a sales contract to keep a grocery store's name is an unusual thing to put on paper. It fits Lynwood Center, though. Down the road at the Lynwood Theatre, the owner is pursuing his own paperwork, an application for nonprofit status. Both of the village's anchors are making the same move this fall. Each one is taking an arrangement that has kept it going for decades and writing it into a formal structure that should outlast the people running it today.

A Name Written Into the Sale

Walt Hannon has owned Walt's Lynwood Market at 4759 Lynwood Center Road NE since 1992. He worked there for 15 years before that under the previous owner, starting as a high school student in 1977. He is now transferring ownership to his son Tyler and daughter-in-law Alexandra. The Hannons told the Review they expect the transfer to be final within a few months, with a grand reopening under the new owners next spring.

The site was a grocery long before Walt's first shift in 1977. The Review notes that south end residents Edne and Emanuel Olson established Lynwood Center in the 1930s, and there has been a market at the site since the 1950s, possibly earlier. The store's name has changed several times along the way. Tyler's commitment is meant to make this the last change.

An October 2026 notice on the market's own website lays out what stays and what's new:

Tyler also told the Review he plans to build relationships with island farms "so that we can source truly local." He described an expanded deli and hot food section, and possibly a seasonal section, as ideas for later. They aren't firm plans yet.

The pinball machines and arcade games have been in the store since the early 1990s, about as long as Walt has owned it. "There's always been that quirky aspect that makes it fun for kids and families to go in and get that staple that they need at that right time," Tyler said. His own memories of the store involve the same aisles. "Growing up, it was me and my brother running down the aisles, cleaning the floors," he told the Review. "It taught me how to steward something and how to work hard."

For now the market keeps its usual schedule: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, open 365 days a year.

The Theater That Has Never Paid Its Owners

The Lynwood Theatre at 4569 Lynwood Center Rd NE opened in July 1936, which made this past summer its 90th. A May 2026 feature in PNW Bainbridge called it reportedly the island's second-oldest continuously operating business, after Bainbridge Gardens. General manager Kevin Lynch told the magazine it was Bainbridge's first theater with sound films. The island's earlier silent-film screenings were at the Port Blakely Mill.

The theater runs on the same principle as Walt's. Owner Jeff Brein of Faraway Productions became partners with Sam Granato, the City of Bainbridge Island's first mayor, in 1997. "It's always been owned by people who live on Bainbridge Island," Brein told PNW Bainbridge. He also told the magazine what that ownership has looked like financially:

"Sam and I, since we became partners in 1997, have never taken a single penny out of that theater in the way of bonus or salary or gifts or loans or anything. We have plowed everything back into the operating of that business and we have expended personal funds to do so in an effort to keep it and preserve it."

For almost 30 years, then, the theater has operated much like a nonprofit without being one. Brein has now started the process of making it an officially recognized nonprofit. That would make it eligible for grants and support funds to cover some of his planned improvements and renovations. The application hasn't been approved yet. In a September 28 update on the theater's podcast, Historic Lynwood, Lynch said the 501(c)(3) transition was "grinding along."

Meanwhile, Lynch told PNW Bainbridge the menu now includes beer, wine and cider. Live music, standup comedy, free specialty screenings, plays, readings and private events are all regulars on the calendar now. To mark the anniversary in July, the theater showed four audience-voted films for free over July 25 and 26: Titanic, Casablanca, Gladiator and Forrest Gump.

Save the Lynwood Opens to the Public on November 1

Lynch's next project is a film. In an October 5 post, he described a community-made film called Save the Lynwood, or STL, with a growing group of local volunteers already signed on. Islanders can take part as producers, actors, musicians or crew, and he gave these dates:

1. November 1, 2026: crowdfunding opens, along with sign-ups for roles on and off camera
2. January 1, 2027: tickets go on sale for the premiere
3. March 1, 2027: talent show sign-ups open
4. May 15, 2027: the talent show
5. July 3, 2027: the grand opening premiere

The campaign pays for making the film. It isn't a renovation fund, and it's separate from the nonprofit application. In the same post, Lynch described the theater's whole operation as "community service."

Neighbors Pay for Halloween

This fall's calendar works the same way. On Friday, October 30, at 7 p.m., the Lynwood is showing Ed Wood for free. The screening is sponsored by Crystal Hill, The Plant Shop, Julie's Frame Shop and Hammy's Burgers. On Halloween itself, Shaun of the Dead plays free at noon. The Ed Wood night is free because four neighboring businesses are paying for it.

The Treehouse Café at 4569 Lynwood Center Rd NE runs a similar model on its biggest November night. Gobblefest, on November 14, is a 21-and-over benefit for Helpline House with five local bands: Focal Point, Bluefish, Close Enough, Ocean Men and Psycho Sushi. Before that, the Treehouse calendar has Trivia Time Live on October 28 and a Jazz Jam on October 29.

The Calendar Through Thanksgiving Weekend

Theater listings come from the Lynwood's October 13 schedule. Schedules change, so check the day before you go.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, the activity shifts to the Manor House at Pleasant Beach Village, 4611 NE Woodson Lane. Besides the gingerbread sessions, the Manor House is hosting free Santa visits on Friday, November 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, November 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No reservations are needed. The gingerbread page first went up last year, so confirm session details and availability before you plan around them.

For more on the village and the shoreline around it, see our Lynwood Center neighborhood page. If you'd rather spend the afternoon outdoors before a show, nearby Fort Ward Park and the beaches at Crystal Springs are a short drive away.

Walt Hannon put it this way to the Review: "This community, the south end of Bainbridge, is pretty special."

At the Amy McFarland Team, we're proud to have Walt's and the Lynwood Theatre as south end neighbors, and we look forward to the market's grand reopening in the spring. If you'd like a recommendation for an evening in Lynwood Center or want to talk about life on the south end, contact your Island Life Concierge.