Hatch Advertising moves to new location
Hatch Advertising has moved to a new location, at 15413 E. Valley Way, in Spokane Valley.

Owner Greg Hatch says the business moved from its old location, at 1120 N. Mullan, to be closer to the vibrant growth along the Sullivan Road corridor and Liberty Lake. The current state of the economy enabled the business to negotiate a good deal in leasing a new location, he says.

"When things start turning around, the Valley will be a central area of operation for us," he says.

Hatch Advertising has been located in Spokane Valley at various locations for the last 32 years, Hatch says.

The agency was founded in 1954 by Jack Hatch, Greg Hatch's father, and his partner, Ray Gross. Greg Hatch joined the firm 32 years ago when his father left to work in the real estate business, he says. He has been in the advertising business for 33 years, and started his career at KXLY here.

Hatch Advertising serves clients around the Inland Northwest, including as far away as Billings, Mont., and because of this it doesn't matter where the firm is located, although two of its main clients are located in the Valley area, Hatch says.

The ad agency employs five people.

Sign-making business opens in Liberty Lake
Expect A Lot Visual Images, a new sign company that specializes in digitally produced banners, decals, and vehicle wraps, has opened a storefront in Liberty Lake, in a 2,500-square-foot leased space at 21980 E. Country Vista Drive.

Owners Brian and Tammy Daley opened the business last month after moving to Liberty Lake from Southern California. They started the business in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., in 1980, and have kept that location open as well. Tammy Daley says it's being run by family members.

Most of the larger signs, banners, and vehicle wraps the company sells still are printed at the California location, but her husband, Brian, does all of the digital work on those products at the Liberty Lake location, she says.

Brian Daley started out in the sign-making business when everything was still hand painted, and the Daleys say they have seen immense change in the industry since then, with digital technology employed almost universally now.

While the majority of the business in California involved vehicle wraps, Tammy Daley says that here she and her husband are focusing more on making signs for retail businesses, including window decals, standing A-frame signs, banners, and magnetic signs.

"Being new, it's hard for us to gauge, but we think that people are excited about the business," she says.

Gourmet cupcake shop opens at Wall, Garland
Celebrations: A Cookie & Cupcake Boutique is the new name Mike and Christina Levinson have given to a 2,000-square-foot bakery they recently purchased. The shop is located in a pink building at the southwest corner of Wall Street and Garland Avenue.

The business formerly was called Celebrations Bakery, with the tagline "a cookie and specialty cake shop," says Mike Levinson. When he and his wife were looking for a new business venture, they discovered Celebrations Bakery for sale while searching for bakery equipment on Craigslist, he says.

"We decided since the business was already established we would totally revamp it. We want it to be a very posh place with a nice atmosphere," he says.

The Levinsons decided to focus their business on gourmet cupcakes, rather than specialty cakes, to avoid competition with other cake shops in the area, he says.

"It's really a niche market that is missing here, and we decided this would be a good business to open," he says.

Celebrations also sells cookies to several business in the area at wholesale price and these businesses resell its cookies, he says. It offers a wide variety of cake, filling, and frosting flavors for customers to choose from, including four different sizes of cupcakes, ranging from a miniature size to the size of a small cake, Levinson says.

Fondant icing—rolled icing with a pliable consistency—elaborate decorations, and different types of presentation stands also are available to customers who are looking for something fancy, he says, adding that the business also does monogrammed cupcakes for wedding receptions and favors.

The Levinsons are the business's only employees.

New preschool opens just north of downtown
A new preschool and child care center, Journey Discovery Center, has opened just north of downtown.

Owners Nicole Sohn and Nikki Kinzer opened the center last month in a 6,000-square-foot leased space at 110 W. Cataldo. The two taught preschool in the Spokane area for seven and 10 years, respectively, Sohn says. She and Kinzer previously worked as directors of Dandylion Day Care, in North Spokane.

Sohn says the center offers full-time day-care and preschool services, which will be incorporated with a learning curriculum. The center also has a care program for infants, teaching them fine motor skills and other activities intended to encourage exploration and growth, she says.

"Our emphasis is on child discovery through exploration, which is taught through learning hands on," she says.

Journey Discovery Center enrolls children age one month to 5 years and will offer summer care programs for children to age 12. The center employs three people.

The Journey Discovery Center received a grant of $25,000 from the Washington state Department of Commerce's Child Care Facility Fund, which it used to buy educational supplies, including books, furniture, and educational materials, Sohn says. The preschool was required to match that amount, which went into the building's lease and salaries for employees, she says.

She says the center's close proximity to downtown will enable it to take the children on field trips to places such as Riverfront Park and the Mobius Kids museum.

"So many people work downtown, so why not have an amazing place for (their children) to get an education while being in child care also?" she says.