Pigtail Mercantile to open on Grand

 

Pigtail Mercantile LLC plans to open Friday, Nov. 24, on Spokane’s South Hill, says owner Holly Burke.

The store will occupy 2,500 square feet of space in a retail center at 3028 S. Grand Blvd., but will use only 1,300 square feet of store space to start, says Burke, adding that she hopes to be using the rest of the space by March.

Pigtail Mercantile will offer antiques, vintage clothing, shabby-chic and repurposed furniture, candles, potpourri sprays, jewelry, stuffed toys, homemade signs, and consignment pieces, she says.

The store also will include space where kids “without a lot of money” can purchase Christmas or birthday presents for their friends and family, she says.

“I want to do so many things,” says Burke.

As it expands its sales, Pigtail Mercantile plans to offer craft-related classes and complimentary coffee, she says, adding that she also hopes to work with nonprofits.

Starting out, Burke will be the only employee, but she expects to hire a couple of additional employees in coming months, she says.

Pigtail Mercantile will be open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

—Samantha Peone

 

Chinese restaurant slated on South Hill

 

Chef Lu’s Enterprise LLC plans to open Chef Lu’s Asian Bistro in January at 2915 E. 29th, says Vinson Cai, general contractor with Spokane-based JZC Contracting Services LLC.

The bistro will occupy about 3,000 square feet of space and employ about 10 people, he says.

The restaurant will offer Sichuan cuisine, traditional Chinese cooking, more modern Chinese cooking, a sushi bar, and cocktails, says Cai. Sichuan is a province in China, he says.

He says the owners also operate Chinese Gardens Restaurant, at 1106 First, in Cheney, which has been open for almost five years. That location will close when the new bistro opens, he says.

The owners chose to open a restaurant in Spokane because the market here is larger, Cai says.

Chef Lu’s Asian Bistro will be open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, he says.

—Samantha Peone

 

Trampoline park planned for Valley

 

Co-founders of Spokane-based Flying Squirrel Sports LLC, a chain of indoor trampoline parks with locations in Canada and Central America, say they plan to remodel the former Hastings store at 15312 E. Sprague, in Spokane Valley, for the first Spokane-area Flying Squirrel.

Cody Schueler, who owns Flying Squirrel with his brother, Luke, says they are still in the process of selecting a general contractor to assist in renovating the location, a 30,000-square-foot space the company is leasing from JNLP Spokane LLC. 

“We’re probably looking at up to $2 million in renovations to the space,” he says. “We’re also looking into obtaining some of the adjacent tenant spaces to get to our goal size of 40,000 square feet.” 

Schueler says Flying Squirrel will feature trampoline courts, slack lines, dunk hoops, foam pits, climbing walls, as well as a ticket arcade, and a full restaurant and bar. 

 “If all goes well, we should be opening sometime in early February,” he says. “We’re extremely excited.” 

Schueler says the Spokane Valley facility will be the second U.S. Flying Squirrel location, with the first being planned to open in Missoula, Mont., in early December. 

The Schuelers had previously operated a similar facility called Sky High Sports Spokane, at 1322 E. Front in east central Spokane.

 Cody Schueler says the brothers closed that location when their lease expired in August 2016, but had since planned to bring a trampoline park back to the area.

 “We really wanted to bring our new brand (Flying Squirrel) to Spokane,” he says. “This is our chance to show people how we’ve improved and evolved.”

He adds, “We currently have 11 international Flying Squirrel locations, most of which are in Canada or Central America. But we’re expanding pretty quickly, and by early next year, we hope to have begun construction on 10 U.S. locations.”

—LeAnn Bjerken

 

Umi Sushi set for debut in early ’18

 

Umi Sushi plans to open early next year in Kendall Yards, says Luke Grimsrud, of Spokane-based Uptic Studios Inc., who’s designing the restaurant.

HLH Food Ventures LLC, of Spokane, plans to operate Umi Sushi in 2,700 square feet of space at 1309 W. Summit Parkway, Grimsrud says.

Construction of the restaurant space started Nov. 14 and is expected to be completed in 90 to 120 days, he says. Kilgore Construction Inc., of Colbert, is the project’s general contractor.

Umi Sushi will occupy 1,000 square feet of space on the main level and 1,700 square feet of space on the lower level, which will feature outside seating just yards away from the Centennial Trail, Grimsrud says. In all, the restaurant will have a capacity of 115 patrons. 

“They wanted a very high-class sushi restaurant that would top anything in town for the experience,” he says.

Initially, HLH Food Ventures only had planned to develop the main level but later decided to build out an existing lower level, which will have a lounge feel to it, says Grimsrud. 

The building in which Umi Sushi will be located is home to a Maryhill Winery tasting room, which had its grand opening on Nov. 17.

—Kevin Blocker

 

Exclusive barber opens second shop

 

Exclusive Barbershop has opened a second location at 4507 N. Nevada, in what was a NuKey Realty office. 

Keno Branch, who co-owns the shop with his wife Lakeisha, says he decided it was time to expand the business.

“We feel we provide a pretty good service to people, and so we figured, why not expand and offer that to another neighborhood,” he says.

Branch says he and his wife purchased the 700-square-foot shop building in June and worked to remodel it before its official opening late last month.

“We did new lighting, flooring, paint, everything,” he says. “The new space has been open about three weeks now. We have two employees set up there, and everything’s going great.”

Branch says the original Exclusive Barbershop location at 1721 W. Northwest Boulevard is a leased location, which has been in operation since 2015 and employs three people.

—LeAnn Bjerken