Learning center adds second office

A second Winston Center for Attention, Language, and Learning has opened in a 700 square foot space at 528 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. in the University District, says Wendy Popa, co-CEO and director of language and learning.

The first Winston Center office opened in February at 605 E. Holland and occupies 1,300 square feet of space.

Popa co-founded Winston Center with psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Beck. Licensed social worker Sarah Shears and business manager Nori Beck also have an ownership interest in the company.

Billed as a comprehensive evaluation treatment center for children and adults with learning disorders, Winston Center offers psychiatric, psychological, mental health, and learning disability therapy and advocacy services says Popa. The services include psychological evaluations, dyslexia advocacy, family therapy for newly diagnosed children, language and learning intervention, and services to examine organizational development and executive functioning, says Popa.  

The owners are also in the process of developing early-intervention programs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder intervention based on scientific research, says Popa. The first groups begin this fall, she says.

In addition to the four full-time owners, four part-time employees also work for Winston Center. Only Shears and Popa have been working at the new location, but Popa says the team plans to have another mental health counselor and psychologist start this fall.

Popa says the co-founders live with or have family members who have one or more of the disorders the Winston Center treats. 

“We see the real everyday struggles as well as the amazing strength that these individuals have,” she says. “And so we desire to bring hope to people, to come alongside them in the journey of their struggles … to help them reach their full potential.” 

—Samantha Howard

Downtown hotel to reopen restaurant

 The Quality Inn Hotel Downtown, at 110 E Fourth is wrapping up improvements to its restaurant space, which is to be called the Quality Pub & Grill. 

Work is expected to be completed yet this month, with the pub and grill set to open Sept. 1.

Travis Tramp, Quality Inn’s district manager, says of the remodel, “It’s been about a year-long project. We could have completed it sooner but we wanted to take our time and really do it right.” 

The 1,500-square-foot space is located on the hotel’s second floor, the same level as its pool and exercise room. 

Tramp says the space was most recently leased by a company called Library Lounge. Its lease expired in September of 2014 and wasn’t renewed.  

 Once the lease expired, the hotel took over and began a remodel that included installing a new ceiling, carpet, tiles, refrigeration, and a bar with new taps. The space will have a laid-back, living room atmosphere, Tramp says, with seating for approximately 40 people, a pool table, and other games. 

The grill’s menu will feature American-style food, such as burgers and pizza, along with four beers on tap, bottled domestic beers, and local wine. 

Quality Inn’s finance department estimates the project has cost $48,000 so far. 

 

—LeAnn Bjerken

Vintage Hill winery goes on the market

The owners of Vintage Hill Cellars winery recently have listed the business for sale, says Cody George, who owns the winery with his dad, Mark George, and family friend Brian Murray. The three men and their wives were the winery’s only employees, operating the business part time. 

Cody George says they’ve decided to focus on other interests. 

“It’s been a great, really fun business the last 10 years,” George says. “We’re just ready to move on, spend more time with family, and enjoy some other stuff.” 

The winery is being marketed for sale as a turnkey opportunity, with all winemaking equipment, wine inventory, label designs, and décor included in the sale of the business. The sale doesn’t include the property, although George says it’s possible the winery purchaser could continue on the lease of the 1,800-square foot space. A for-sale flyer lists the winery’s price at $45,000. 

George says as of now there are a handful of buyers interested, but nothing official yet. “We’re still looking at the numbers, talking things over. There’s really no set date we’d like to sell by,” he says. 

The winery, located at 319 W. Second, opened its doors in May of 2007. 

 

—LeAnn Bjerken

Couple opens fourth Boost Mobile store

Carter Communications, owned by husband-and-wife team Jerry and Carol Carter, has opened a new Boost Mobile outlet on Spokane’s North Side, its fourth store in the Spokane area. 

Carol Carter says the company is considering opening a fifth store in another year.

“We’re excited. It’s going great,” she says. “In our first month, we had 15 new activations. In July, we more than doubled that with 35. This month, we’ll easily meet 40 new activations.” 

The new store is located at 3205 N. Division. Carter says it’s a highly visible location that draws a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic along Ruby and Division streets.

The company’s other Boost locations in Spokane are at 3123 E. Francis and 2401 W. Wellesley. The Carters’ Spokane Valley store is at 12510 E. Sprague.

The couple started their company selling Boost Mobile prepaid phones in 2011, Carol Carter says. Jerry Carter was a framing contractor for several years when construction began to slow in 2009. As the couple looked at new career opportunities, a family member in Florida suggested the no-contract cellular provider.

The Carters own the stores and have a dealer contract with Boost Mobile, a subsidiary of Sprint. Boost Mobile was one of the first no-contract cellular providers in the country. “We first thought, ‘Who’s going to go for a no-contract arrangement with their provider?’ Now, that’s the direction the industry is heading,” Carol Carter asserts.

Carter Communications has seven employees, including the Carters and their daughter. 

 

—Kevin Blocker

Geocaching store changes locations

Lisa Breitenfeldt, owner, president and CEO of Cache Advance Inc., says the company’s retail store, Cache Cave, has moved.

Formerly at 2324 E. Euclid, Ste. 204, Cache Cave relocated to 14109 E. Sprague in mid-July, says Breitenfeldt. The company operated at the Euclid location for about two years, but Breitenfeldt says the business has been open for 10 years. 

 “It started very part time in my basement,” says Breitenfeldt. “And it just kept growing.”

In addition to outgrowing its former location, better visibility and more parking factored into Cache Cave’s recent move, she says. The new and former locations both consist of about 2,000 square feet of floor space, but the Sprague location has a more convenient layout, with a large room for retail, classroom, and meeting space, as well as a warehouse, she says.

Along with Breitenfeldt, three regular and two nonregular contractors have been working at the store, she says.

Breitenfeldt says Cache Advance “is in the business of fun” and offers geocaching gear and products, including GPS products, log books, rain proof pens and notebooks, and Geocoins, or collectible, trackable tokens, and other trackable items. 

Breitenfeldt describes geocaching as a high-tech game used with GPS or smart phone apps in which a player, also known as a “geocacher”, hides and seeks “geocache containers,” which are hidden around the world.

“I have a passion for geocaching … and I really saw a need 10 years ago for more supplies and more gear, so I just started developing it and found I’ve got a knack for product development,” says Breitenfeldt.

 

—Samantha Howard