Downtown map seller moves store to Valley
Steve and Linda Mitrovich, owners of the longtime Spokane store Northwest Map Service, have moved their shop to Spokane Valley to be closer to their home, after having operated it in downtown Spokane for 25 years, they say.

The store most recently was located at 525 W. Sprague, and before that originally was located on Spokane Falls Boulevard, Steve Mitrovich says. He says he and his wife closed the downtown location at the end of June and reopened at the new location, 10525 E. Sprague, in early July. The new location has about 900 square feet of floor space, or about 500 square feet less than the downtown store.

Northwest Map Service carries a wide variety of maps and atlases, including about 3,000 regional maps, ranging from U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps to wilderness maps, park maps, and public lands maps, Mitrovich says. He says the shop also carries a large collection of guidebooks and international maps for customers planning a trip abroad.

Currently, the Mitrovichs are the business's only employees.

Fitness instructor here opens up own center
Brayson Buckner, of Spokane, has found a more permanent location for his fitness and self-defense business, Krav Maga Spokane.

Since last year, Buckner says he taught his classes at CrossFit Spokane, at 116 E. Augusta, renting space there on a weekly basis. Earlier this month, he opened Krav Maga Spokane in a 3,500-square-foot leased space location, at 1403 N. Division.

Krav Maga is a self-defense technique that started in Israel during the mid-1940s and came to the U.S. in the late 1970s, Buckner says.

He says it is different from most other self-defense methods because there are no rules, and most of the moves are a combination of several other cultures' self-defense techniques.

"The only rule is to go home safe," he says.

Buckner says he became interested in Krav Maga about three years ago and wanted to challenge himself to get in better shape.

"It's nice to know you can get in shape and defend yourself. You can walk in peace," he says.

He says his school also offers classes in cardio kickboxing and cross-training. Membership ranges from $99 to $125 a month, and students must be over the age of 16 to enroll.

Besides Buckner, the business employs two other part-time instructors.

Spokane woman starts own consulting firm


Sarah Bain, of Spokane, has started a consulting business here, named Sarah Bain Consulting, that's designed to assist business owners with networking, brand management, and creation of effective marketing content.

Bain says she has worked for a variety of companies in the Spokane area for the last 18 years in marketing and communications. She says she decided to go out on her own because many potential clients "have a wealth of ideas and aren't very successful at executing them because they are either short-staffed or haven't had the opportunity."

She says her consulting business's main focus is building individual relationships between small businesses and other community members to create a positive connection.

"All of us that live and work in Spokane want to maximize our relationships with each other," she says. "For me, it really comes down to creating relationships that matter."

Besides networking, Bain helps clients create Web site content, including design, navigation, and writing and editing. She says some of her current clients include a financial adviser, a medical practice, and a student travel organization.

For now, Bain is the only one working for her company, but she says she contracts out for assistance outside her area of expertise, as needed. She opened the business here in the beginning of July and works out of her home.

A Grand Yarn gets new owners, bigger location
New owners recently bought A Grand Yarn, a shop here that specializes in unique yarns and knitting accessories as well as knitting and crocheting classes, and soon will be moving it to a new location, at 1220 S. Grand, just down the street from where it is located, at 1314 S. Grand.

The shop's new owners, mom-daughter team Nancy and Libby Blossom, purchased the business last month from John and Mary Lindeblad, who opened the store about six years ago. Libby Blossom says her mother, a longtime customer of the store, decided to invest in the business when she read it was for sale in its newsletter.

"She wanted to keep it going, so we decided to take it on," Libby Blossom says.

The lease for the shop's current space ends soon, and she says she and her mother decided to move the business down the street to the vacant space formerly occupied by BitterSweet Bakery & Bistro because it is 300 square feet larger than their current 1,250-square-foot space.

The new location also is closer to the street, and Blossom says the new owners want to create window displays in the building's large, street-facing windows. She says they hope to have the shop moved into its new space before September.

A Grand Yarn currently has five part-time employees and most likely will hire one or two more after the move, she says.

Business here guides homeowners through remodeling projects
Mark Hoover, a Spokane construction industry veteran, has started a business here, named Home Improvement Watchdog, to guide homeowners through the remodeling process.

Hoover says he got the idea for his business after hearing stories from friends and family members who had hired contractors to do remodeling projects and had difficulties communicating their requests or discovered work that hadn't been completed after they had paid the bill.

Through his business, Hoover helps a client create a contract with their contractor, outlining their entire project. With everything down in writing the contractor is more easily held responsible, he says.

Hoover's service includes up to three visits during the remodeling to evaluate the progress of the job.

"At the end of the job, I want the homeowner to feel comfortable not paying the contractor in full until a couple of days after the remodel," he says. He says this gives the homeowner time to make sure the work was completed as requested.

Hoover charges clients 10 percent of the job's total contracted cost.