Couple opens second discount perfume shop

A Spokane-based discount perfume retailer, called Fragrance Station Inc., has opened a store in Spokane Valley Mall, its second outlet here.

The business is owned by husband and wife Sunny and Parveen Dhillon and sells a variety of perfumes and colognes for men, women, and children, says Parveen Dhillon.

The couple also own and operate a Fragrance Station store in North Town Mall, located on the second level, which opened there about a year ago, Dhillon says.

She says the business carries celebrity name-branded fragrances, as well as most designer-label brands, such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Revlon. The Fragrance Station also sells fragrance products for children that are alcohol free, Dhillon says.

Dhillon claims that Fragrance Station's prices are between 10 percent and 25 percent lower than the retail price of similar perfume and cologne brands sold at department stores.

Dhillon says she and her husband are the business's only employees, but now that the second store is open, they plan to hire additional employees.
The couple recently moved to Spokane from New Mexico, Dhillon says, and have been in the fragrance-selling business for three years.

Bag O Nails restaurant, bar opens in Millwood

The Bag O Nails Pub & Sandwiches recently opened in Millwood in a 1,400-square-foot space in a shopping center located at 8901 E. Trent.

Zeke Sawyer says he's the sole owner of the eatery, and family and friends are volunteering their time to get it up and running.

Right now, he says, Bag O Nails has one other employee, but he hopes to have around 12 people working there by the end of this year.
He says the business is named after a famous pub in London with a similar moniker, and that he contends was a well-known hangout of British celebrities and rockers in the 1960s.

"We're basically paying homage to that name," Sawyer says.
Sawyer says the restaurant and bar offer cold sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit, and more than 50 bottled beers, as well as five wines.
Most of the beers and wines served there are from wineries and breweries in the Pacific Northwest, Sawyer says, adding that he plans to add to the menu as the business becomes better known.

Sawyer says other plans to expand the business in the near future include adding more outdoor tables, expanding its beer and wine list, and increasing the size of the restaurant's kitchen area.

The eatery currently seats around 40 people inside, he says, adding that there's space for about eight more people on its patio.

Get The 411 launches business directory here

Get The 411 LLC has launched an online business directory from its offices at 23403 E. Mission, in Liberty Lake. Daniel Montgomery, sales director for the company, says in the six weeks since the directory came online, 200 Spokane-area businesses have been added to the website, www.spokane411.com.

Montgomery says Get The 411 charges $300 for a first-year listing on its website, which can include a coupon and a video about the business. After that, the cost is $500 a year.

The company is preparing to launch websites for Salt Lake City-area and Boise-area businesses. It plans to add other Northwest municipalities over the summer, and expects to go nationwide within a year, he says.
The company is owned by Keith Kopelson, of Liberty Lake. It has five employees besides the owner.

New cloud computing service opens in Valley

A new cloud computing service, Datarang LLC, has opened in Spokane Valley. Owners Eric Phillips and Chris Rostie have leased 3,000 square feet of space at 18303 E. Corbin Place, just north of the intersection of Appleway Avenue and Greenacres Road.

Phillips says he and Rostie invested $60,000 to start the business, but says that figure is low because the partners "had a lot of equipment already."

He says, "Our customers are small and medium-sized businesses. We have a huge pool of computing resources, and we rent them out to people. They don't have to buy their own servers or software, or hire an IT guy."
Datarang LLC charges a monthly fee for services that Phillips says can range from $30 to several thousand dollars, depending on the size of the business and the services desired.

Services include hosting of Microsoft applications, including Exchange and SharePoint, and others such as Link Server, QuickBooks, and custom software applications. It provides hosted platforms such as Microsoft SQL Server, and offers nightly remote automated backup.

It's currently working with six customers, and has "five or six more customers lined up to bring onto our service," Phillips says.

He previously was a sales representative here for Network Computing Architects Inc., of Bellevue, Wash. He handles sales, marketing, and accounting for Datarang. Rostie also owns Rostie & Associates, an information technology consulting business here. He manages the technology side of Datarang, Phillips says.

In addition to Phillips and Rostie, the business has one part-time employee.

Serenity Spa opens in East Francis space

Serenity Spa & Massage Inc. has opened at 1727 E. Francis, on Spokane's North Side.

Owner Tracy Gyllenhammer says the 1,200-square-foot leased space became available when the Jackson Hewitt Tax Service outlet operating there downsized to half its original space.

Gyllenhammer also owns that tax-preparation operation with her father, Alan Perlman.

Gyllenhammer says she remodeled the spa space to include a "relaxation room" where clients can unwind before their appointments. It also has a massage room and two pedicure chairs. Serenity Spa & Massage offers facials, massages, pedicures, manicures, and waxing and operates with seven independent contractors.

"I'm passionate about women taking time out for themselves. I want women to come in and enjoy themselves," says Gyllenhammer, who has a background in sales and marketing.