Golden Rule Brake sold, stays in family



Dallas Low says he has bought the assets of Spokane-based Golden Rule Brake, a nearly 60-year-old business with three vehicle repair shops, from his father, Jerry Low.

They completed the transaction July 1.

Jerry Low, who operated the business for 33 years, is retiring. Dallas Low says he and his wife, Tanya, formed Evident 316 Inc., doing business as Golden Rule Brake, to buy the business assets. He says his father still owns land where two of the three Golden Rule Brake shops are located.

The business provides vehicle brake and front-end suspension repairs. It employs 10 people at three locations: 815 N. Pines, in Spokane Valley; 815 E. Francis, on Spokane's North Side; and 625 N. Monroe, near downtown.

Dallas Low says plans to grow the business include adding a fourth location, potentially in about three years, and expanding services.

"We are looking to start doing alignments, but it's going to be a year or two before we can do that," he says.

Low says his grandfather and great uncle started Golden Rule Brake here in 1954. After working at the business during his youth, he and his wife ran a nonprofit ministry for 12 years. He returned a year ago to work at Golden Rule Brake prior to the ownership change.

—Treva Lind



Civil engineer here starts his own firm



Civil engineering veteran Chris Sneider has opened Sneider Engineering LLC, a Spokane Valley firm offering geotechnical consulting.

Sneider has been a licensed civil engineer for more than 20 years and specializes in geotechnical engineering, providing geotechnical evaluations for a range of types of projects. He is licensed in Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and he says his experience includes work on bridges, roadways, and dams.

The firm initially will operate from Sneider's Spokane Valley home, but he says he plans to move closer to downtown as business increases. He also plans to expand services and might hire employees next year, depending upon the market.

"Things are looking good. The timing for me is good. This is something I wanted to do for a long time, ever since I left college," he says.

Sneider most recently worked for the Spokane Valley office of San Francisco-based URS Corp. for a year and a half. Prior to that, he spent six years with the Spokane office of Golder Associates Inc.

Sneider received his engineering degree from Washington State University.

—Audrey Danals



Hair stylist opens North Side studio



Patti Usselman Hair Co., of Spokane, has leased about 1,000 square feet of retail space at 14 E. Mission, just off Division Street, and expects to open a salon there later this month, owner Patti Usselman says.

Usselman previously had leased space from Tryst Hair Co., at 528 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., in the University District. Usselman, who has been in the salon industry for three years, is Usselman Hair Co.'s only employee, but the salon will have beauty stations available for lease, she says.

Usselman is a Paul Mitchell-licensed cosmetologist and handles hair coloring and family haircuts, among other services.

—Jessica Valencia



Valley auto-tire shop opens second outlet



Clark's Tire & Automotive LLC, a Spokane Valley-based automotive repair and tire sales business, has opened a second location in the Valley.

Chris Clark, co-owner along with his wife Erin Clark, says the business began operating the new leased facility, located at 17204 E. Sprague, on June 30. It is slightly less than a mile east of Clark's Tire & Automotive's first shop, located in a leased structure at 16010 E. Sprague.

"Business has been extremely busy ... it's been really beneficial," Clark says. "It's given us more space and we've added five employees."

The business employs 15 people overall, with 11 workers at the first location and four employees at the new facility.

Clark says the business invested $6,000 in upgrades at the facility, which has 8,000 square feet and four bays, with a plan in the next six months to buy the building from the owner. The facility previously was occupied by Kars Plus, an automobile repair business that closed.

The other Clark's Tire & Automotive facility has 12,000 square feet and nine bays. Clark says he plans eventually to open a third outlet, on Spokane's North Side.

—Treva Lind



Lucky Lab Coffee to roll out this fall



Lucky Lab Coffee Co., of Spokane, a planned mobile coffee truck operator, expects to be up and running by late fall, say co-owners Ron Lunan and Courtney Hutton.

The Spokane husband-wife duo, who co-own the company with Hutton's brother and silent partner Brian Hutton, are working with Seattle-based interior design firm Ore Studios LLC to finalize the design of the truck. "The goal right now is to do a lot of events," Courtney Hutton says. "We're hoping the events are a big core part of our business."

Hutton says the company also is looking at stationing the truck downtown and in office parks. She estimates they will invest around $65,000 into getting the business started, mostly in purchasing and retrofitting the truck, and in licensing fees.

In addition to them, the pair says the company likely will hire one or two additional employees to help staff the coffee truck once it's operating.

Hutton works remotely as a paralegal, while her husband, Lunan, works in the high tech industry for a Salt Lake City-based company.

—Jessica Valencia