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Guitar maker opens shop on North Side
Seth Ertl has opened Ertl Guitar Works, at 4601 N. Nevada, in a space formerly occupied by Urban Fashions.
The shop repairs all stringed instruments, but primarily acoustic and electric guitars, Ertl says. It also does custom modifications and building of guitars.
Ertl says he attended luthier school in 2000 to become a luthier, or a maker of stringed musical instruments. He then did an apprenticeship and did contract repair work out of a guitar shop in the Seattle area. He launched Ertl Guitar Works six years ago, and continued to work out of Seattle guitar shops, he says.
Ertl says he moved to Spokane last year to be closer to his family. He opened a repair shop inside Guitar Center, at Franklin Park Mall, but decided to open at the Nevada location and moved there in September. He says he did some remodeling in the 700-square-foot space, but wants to do more.
The luthier says he has a good customer base from the time he spent at Guitar Center, and from word-of-mouth, but hopes to grow the business. The shop has no employees.
"It will take a while to build back up to where it was in Tukwila. I want to sink any profit I make back into the business. I'm never busy enough," he says.
Coffee business expands in Valley
The Wake Up Call, a Spokane Valley coffee business owned by Christi Walsh that sells its drinks from a drive-up stand and coffee shops with architectural features that borrow from English-style, bright red phone booths, has opened a fourth location here, at 210 N. Sullivan.
Its other three locations are at 1703 S. Dishman-Mica, 112 N. Evergreen, and 1106 N. Pines.
Wake Up Call has improved its store layouts since the first outlet opened in 2004, says Christopher Arkoosh, vice president. The original store on Dishman-Mica is drive-up only. The Evergreen store has an added lobby and seats 11 patrons, and the Pines and Sullivan stores have larger lobbies that seat 20 patrons and a larger space behind the counter.
Arkoosh says Wake Up Call serves mellow, smooth varieties of coffee, rather than bitter roasts. He says it has just hired nine new employees, for a total of 25. In the future, he says, the business may expand beyond Spokane Valley.
"We would eventually like to go to North Spokane and Coeur d'Alene," Arkoosh says.
Take-and-bake outlet offers lasagna meals
Lasagnas-On-Ya LLC, a take-and-bake Italian food outlet, has opened at 521 E. Holland, on Spokane's North Side, says owner Jennifer Shorts.
The business sells five different varieties of lasagna in three sizes of pans, ranging in price from a $20 pan, which feeds two to four people, to a $49 pan that weighs eight pounds and feeds eight to 12 people, she says. It also offers artisan breads, salad kits, and desserts such as tiramisu and cheesecake. Full meals are available at discounted prices. An individual-serving meal deal is $12.99.
Shorts says the business grew out of her love for baking lasagna for her seven children and their friends. The former real estate agent says she and her husband, Dan Shorts, a former logger, spent 10 years taking business classes and forming a business plan. The couple saved money and found an angel investor to provide capital for the business.
Her goal eventually is to franchise Lasagnas-On-Ya, Shorts says. She plans to open and own outlets on the South Hill and in Spokane Valley within two years.
Shorts says that for now, her husband does most of the cooking, and she handles other aspects of the business. It currently has two other employees.
Longtime restaurant owners collaborate
Dale Kleist, owner of Fast Eddie's All-Purpose Pub, in downtown Spokane, and Mark Star, owner of David's Pizza, in the Gonzaga district, are teaming up to open a restaurant and sports bar, to be called Famous Ed's, in the former Hangar 57 space at 57th Avenue and Regal Street on Spokane's South Hill.
Kleist says the new restaurant will serve pizza from David's Pizza, and longtime Spokane chef Kile Tansy will serve a pasta menu. Kleist says the restaurant will be family-friendly.
"I like that area. I've been watching it for quite awhile. When the space came available, it all came together," Kleist says of the new venture. The space, at 2911 E. 57th, was occupied by Pepperdine Sports Bar before Hangar 57 opened there.
Kleist and Star have been remodeling the space, adding an open kitchen, large windows in front, and a garage door that will open onto a 1,000-square-foot deck, Kleist says. The facility will seat just under 100 patrons, he says.
Kleist expects Famous Ed's to open "sometime before the end of the year."
Event center to open in Spokane Valley
A new event center, La Belle Vie, is slated to open in Spokane Valley this month in the former Argus Services offices at 18507 E. Appleway, says co-owner Jeannene Schoenleber. La Belle Vie is French for "the beautiful life."
La Belle Vie will be available to rent for weddings, corporate meetings, reunions, and other events. It has a 1,000-square-foot lobby and a 2,200-square-foot main room. Dressing rooms are available upstairs and in the basement, and there also is a children's room with a large-screen TV. A 1,200-square-foot landscaped outdoor area with a gazebo will be available for use beginning next spring, Schoenleber says.
The event center will rent for $2,000 for a wedding, or $100 an hour for business meetings. La Belle Vie will provide linens, along with setup and takedown service.
Schoenleber says she and her husband, Jim Schoenleber, regained possession of the building this year after selling it in 2006. They sold the building after selling Argus Services, an armed-guard security service that operated in eight states and had 2,000 employees.
They say they will continue to operate Argus-Search Inc., a company that provides online background checks for employers.
The couple decided there wasn't a good market for office space in Spokane Valley, but there was a need for an event center, so they spent the summer renovating the building, Schoenleber says.
She will run the event center with her daughters, Amy Strobel and Alee Lents. La Belle Vie will market itself at the Bridal Festival in January, and will advertise in wedding publications, Schoenleber says.