Spokane tea house set to open in June

Silver Spoon Tea House LLC, of Spokane, is scheduled to open June 1 in a historic lower South Hill home and plans to serve tea with bakery sweets and tiny sandwiches in an antique-parlor setting.

Silver Spoon Tea House also will operate a bakery-bistro for walk-in customers on its main floor, where it will sell pastries, sweets, tea, and French-pressed coffee.

Lara McHenry, the tea house's manager, says the two-story home at 1427 W. Sixth was built in 1903. She says her mother, Sylvia Erickson, who lives elsewhere in Spokane, is the sole owner of the business and of the home. It's decorated with antiques that Erickson has collected and has four tea rooms available for afternoon tea parties to hold different sizes of groups by reservation.

"This gives people the chance to enjoy tea in traditional parlor setting, with tiny tea sandwiches, tarts, and desserts," McHenry says. "It really has the Victorian-era flair."

McHenry says the tea service by reservation can be for one person, two people, or small groups. The tea service ranges from $22 to $28 per person for a two-hour session to include three tea choices and food. The 3,200-square-foot home was built for early Spokane resident Levi Monroe in the Queen Anne architectural style, she says.

McHenry also is a real estate agent, and she says her mother bought the home as an investment this past fall. The previous owner recently had invested in the historic restoration of the home, she says.

In addition to McHenry and Erickson, Silver Spoon employs a baker and a server.

—Treva Lind

Consignment business relocates on Sprague

The Central Stop, a Spokane Valley consignment store that specializes in selling goods online, has relocated to a larger space, owner Dan McGuire says.

The store opened April 1 in the 7,000-square-foot retail space it's leasing at 6511 E. Sprague, at the west end of the Sprague-Appleway couplet.

McGuire says the store, previously located at 14109 E. Sprague, had been open for about seven months before moving.

McGuire is the store's only employee, but he says family members help staff it as well.

"We're still in the testing stage," he says, adding he anticipates hiring an additional full-time employee in the next six months.

After working as a Realtor for eight years, McGuire says he came up with the idea to start the shop, adding he thought it would be a good service. He is still a licensed Realtor, and is actively representing clients currently.

The store sells products through its storefront, but also through services such as Craigslist, eBay, and Amazon. It mostly sells household items with a fair market value of $40 or more, not including firearms, pets, clothing, and small toys.

—Jessica Valencia

Survivalist retailer to open next month

The Practical Prepper, a disaster-preparedness and survivalist store, plans to open June 1 in retail space at 9009 E. Euclid, say owners Rick and Sandra Bechtold.

The store will stock freeze-dried food, such as meat, cheese, vegetables, desserts, and drinks, which will be sold in cans or pouches, says Rick Bechtold. Water storage, lighting, and outdoor cooking items, among other products, also will be available.

The Practical Prepper will occupy about a 400-square-foot leased storefront in the Millwood neighborhood, and the husband-wife pair will be the store's only employees.

"Although the primary focus is on food at this time, we're going to have other products in stock," including emergency-preparedness gear, Rick Bechtold says.

Sandra Bechtold says since the 1980s, she's been a prepper, a term used to describe people who prepare for emergencies or disasters.

She plans to teach food and food prep classes at the store starting at the end of June.

Prior to opening the shop, the Bechtolds had been insurance agents here with Travelers Insurance and Combined Insurance. Sandra Bechtold also previously had owned two other small businesses here, It's A Wrap! and Ritz & Glitz, before selling one and closing the other in the late 1990s.

—Jessica Valencia

New business offers vibrational therapy

A Spokane Valley man and his sister-in-law have launched a new Spokane Valley business called Harmonic Wellness Therapy LLC that offers vibrational sound therapy.

Co-owner Lynn Kelly started the business earlier this year in a portion of his residence at 4319 E. 15th, in Spokane Valley. He has partnered with Rose Lim, who provides business advice, though she isn't involved in the daily operations.

Kelly's wife, Mary Kelly, who offered some administrative support in the startup phase, says that with this style of therapy, a client lies on a massage table equipped with high-quality sound transducers. The transducers then convert low-frequency sounds into vibrational massage that's intended to target muscles, organs, and bones in the body at the cellular level, she says.

A 30-minute therapy session costs $30. Discount packages also are offered.

Lynn Kelly, who is the sole employee, previously worked in Spokane at Positive Changes, a behavior modification center using personal coaching backed by hypnosis. Prior to starting Harmonic Wellness, he researched new technology for what is called "vibroacoustic" therapy, Mary Kelly says. It doesn't involve hands-on massage by a therapist, but instead the low-frequency sound vibration from the sound table and music relaxation provide therapeutic benefit, she claims.

"With a lot of the programs, clients wear noise-reduction earphones and the system plays sound, and you hear a combination of music or gentle rain sounds; it relaxes you to similar brain patterns as you would have when you're sleeping," she says. "The body has a high percentage of water, and the sound systems with vibrational waves are targeted to certain areas of the body."

—Treva Lind