Event rental business leases bigger building

Spokane-based party- and event-supply rental company Event Rents LLC has moved to a larger facility, says owner Brad Orenstein.

The company is leasing a 20,000-square-foot building at 4020 E. Broadway, which includes 18,000 square feet of warehouse space and a 2,000-square-foot office space.

Orenstein says the company had been located in a 9,500-square-foot facility at 2626 E. Trent since opening in April 2006, and decided to move because it needs more space.

The company currently employs 10 people, but he says the company can employ up to 30 people during busy summer months.

Improvements made to the building include repainting, new carpeting, and installing a bathroom in the office. In the warehouse, Orenstein says upgrades were made to plumbing, the boiler, and lighting. He declined to disclose the total cost of the remodel.

Prior to opening Event Rents, Orenstein was the general manager for the McCarthey Athletic Center at Gonzaga University.

"We were doing large events, and I was challenged to find the rental items I needed to find for these big events," he says.

Orenstein says he hopes to build a new facility for the company once the five-year lease for the building on Broadway Avenue expires.

—Jessica Valencia

Longtime hair stylist opens Salon Avant

Spokane hair stylist Kelly Dawson has opened a beauty shop north of downtown called Salon Avant, offering haircuts and hair color service for women and men.

Dawson, who has worked as a self-employed hair stylist in Spokane for more than 25 years, leased space in early March to open the sole proprietorship, at 1212 N. Stevens. The salon is located in about 300 square feet of leased space.

Dawson says she decorated the salon to have a small boutique studio atmosphere. She is the sole employee handling appointments for longtime and new clients. The salon also is selling retail hair styling products.

"I've been doing hair so long, I just wanted to create a space that's really peaceful for my clients," Dawson says. "It's nice to have kind of a boutique salon."

Jeff Ottmar, a commercial real estate agent with Cornerstone Property Advisors LLC, of Spokane, handled the lease.

—Treva Lind

Daycare learning center moves to new space

Love & Laughter Early Learning Center Inc., of Spokane, has moved its day care center to a new location and plans to take on more children, says owner Ruthie Reidt.

The center now occupies 2,300 square feet of leased space at 4125 N. Maple, moving from more than 8,000 square feet of leased space at 415 E. Holland. The building previously housed another day care operation, Discovery Land Development Center, she says, and no remodeling was required.

Love & Laughter currently cares for 10 children, operates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and takes children from one month to age 12. The center accepts children for full-time and part-time care, is USDA food program certified, and accepts state assistance.

Reidt says she has owned Love & Laughter for 15 years and has cared for more than 90 children through the years. The center has three employees, two full time and one part time, and hopes to add more employees as the number of children increases, Reidt says.

Stan Fasules owns the building and handled the lease.

—Audrey Danals

New owner of Stir revamps restaurant

McGuinty's LLC, a company owned by former Spokane firefighter and paramedic Ryan Lieuallen, has bought Stir Eatery & Lounge, located at 7115 N. Division on Spokane's North Side, and Lieuallen now is operating the business.

He declines to disclose how much he paid for Stir, but says he purchased the business from K2M2 Entertainment LLC of Spokane.

Lieuallen says he has revamped Stir's drink menu and has completed about $15,000 in renovations in the 75-seat, 2,500-square-foot establishment, which is situated in the same retail strip as a Qdoba Mexican Grill and a UPS shipping store.

Improvements include new seating and a new wine bar, as well as repainting and installation of new lighting.

Stir has eight employees, which includes two full-time managers and six part-time workers, not including Lieuallen, with plans to hire four new employees by June.

"I've been looking into the restaurant/bar business for about three years," he says. "This one had all the qualities I was looking for."

He says he would like to open a second Stir location eventually.

Stir features eight martini flavors, including lemon pound cake and basil rangpur gimlet.

The establishment initially opened in 2008 and formerly was known as Stir Restaurant & Lounge.

—Jessica Valencia

Tax services office opens on Garland

Clear Choice Tax Services Inc. has opened in the Garland District to provide tax preparation, payroll, and bookkeeping services.

The company's three owners, Rosa Wiess, Carol Lacambra, and De Ann Karan, launched the new business earlier this year at 1403 W. Garland, in a 2,400-square-foot space that a physical therapy practice formerly occupied.

She says the three business partners previously worked for a major tax-service franchise here.

The company employs four people other than the owners for a total of seven workers in the office.

"Our bookkeeping and payroll services are more geared toward small, independent mom-and-pop businesses and truck drivers," Wiess says.

Wiess says that under their five-year plan, Clear Choice owners eventually would like to open a satellite office in Liberty Lake.

—Treva Lind