For Lisa Lee, opening a store in Fairhaven is as much a lifestyle decision as it is a business opportunity.
Lee and her business partner, Mary Bennett, are planning to open Serendipity at the end of the month. It is at 1201 11th St., Suite 102 (across the street from Village Books), and Lee wants to have it ready in time for the Halloween weekend. The women's clothing and accessories store will have new and consigned products.
Lee also operates a Serendipity store in Kirkland and decided on Bellingham not just as a place to open a second store, but as a place to live.
"It's a lifestyle choice," Lee said, noting the support for local, independent businesses is alive and well around here. "I think we'll be a great fit for Fairhaven."
Initially the consignment products will come from the Kirkland area, and Lee plans on being very selective, since the store has only about 600 square feet of space. She said they also want to keep a low price point for a lot of the consignment products - finding a deal on a consignment product might prompt the customer to also get something new to go along with it.
Women's consignment stores have increased in Bellingham in recent years, and Lee said they've also noticed increased activity at the Kirkland store, which opened three years ago. The key, she said, is interacting well with customers.
"The best thing for me (about this business) is the customer relationship; it makes my job so much fun," Lee said.
If the store gets open on the weekend of Oct. 28-29, Lee plans to have a kickoff event with 20 percent off some products. Once established, the store will be open every day.
For details, call Lee at 360-746-8055.
BEAVER INN MOVING INTO A NEW SPOT
A longtime Bellingham bar soon will be in a new spot that should offer some improvements for customers.
Earlier this year Brian Waller purchased the former House of Orient building at 115 E. Holly St., and is planning to move the Beaver Inn into that spot. The renovation work is going through the permit process, and Waller is planning to be in the new space in early 2012.
By purchasing a building for his business, it will give Waller more control on what improvements he can make. One key aspect is the Holly Street building has a restaurant-style kitchen hood in place, allowing the Beaver Inn to add more to its menu.
While making some improvements, he said the layout will be the same and have the same things that made it a regular hangout for customers, including the pool tables and other games.
"In my mind it'll be the same place, but I do want to make some improvements for the customers," he said.
Waller has owned the Beaver Inn for 16 years, and the business has been leased in the current space at 1315 N. State St. at least that long. He said the Beaver Inn has resided in several places in downtown Bellingham over the years.
BELLINGHAM STORE NEARLY READY FOR OPENING
After some initial challenges, Priceco is in the final stages of getting open in the Meridian Street retail center that's home to United Furniture Warehouse, across the street from Walmart.
Initially known as Price Pro, the Bellingham general merchandise store Priceco had its name tweaked to differentiate it from the Canadian Price Pro stores, because it'll have slightly different products, said Jason Conway, district supervisor and manager of the Bellingham United Furniture store.
Conway said they are securing some final products and hope to be open by mid-November. The 10,000-square-foot store will offer a variety of items, including clothing and home accessories, with profits going toward the Welcome Home Society, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization.
Once open, store hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The store is closed on Sundays.
Priceco is also hiring. For details on positions, stop by the United Furniture store.
OTHER TIDBITS
• According to its Facebook page, The Ridge Wine Bar at 1017 N. State St. is under new ownership (Shea Hagan and his wife, Rebecca) and will soon be operating under its new name, Redlight. According to the post, it'll still focus on wine but will also offer beer, a new menu and have a coffee roaster in the back area. It'll also have local artwork as well as live music.
• At 835 N. State St., an application was filed to build a three-story mixed use building, with 39 residential units.
• At 4040-4050 Northwest Ave. permits were filed for the first phase of a hotel called the Springhill Suites, which is part of the Marriott family of hotels. This first phase will have 122 rooms.
• Tenant improvement permits were issued to convert a space into a jewelry store called Evolved Body Jewelry at 1307 Cornwall Ave.
• A liquor license application was filed with the state for a change of ownership at La Patisserie restaurant at 3098 Northwest Ave. (near Yeager's Sporting Goods). The current owners are Hiep Le and Phvong Le, while the new applicants are Joyce I-Chen Cheng and Joe Chien Ming.
• Johnny's Donuts at 2201 Cornwall Ave. has expanded its hours. The shop is now open 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
