Couple here opens pet-supply boutique
Prairie Dog Pet Mercantile, an independent pet-supply store owned by Don and Cyndi Cutler, of Spokane, was scheduled to open this week on the Moran Prairie.

The store, located in 1,050 square feet of leased space at 2917 E. Palouse Highway, just east of the McDonald's restaurant at Palouse Highway and Regal Street, focuses on all-natural dog and cat food, nutritional supplements, and other health products for pets, Don Cutler says.

Prairie Dog's offerings include fresh, locally made animal treats, and customers are invited to bring their pets when they shop at the store, Cutler says. The business also stocks unique dog and cat toys, some of which are made in the Pacific Northwest, he says.

Prairie Dog offers a coffee-shop area, where it serves coffee, tea, bottled beverages, and packaged snack products for human consumption, says Cutler, who for now is the only employee at the store.

Steve McIntosh, Carl Guenzel, and Erik Nelson, all of Kiemle & Hagood Co., handled the lease.

Fitness facility moves to downtown location from Sunset Boulevard
A Spokane outlet of Curves, a franchised fitness facility here that's geared specifically for women, will move to smaller quarters at 164 S. Washington from its current location at 1908 W. Sunset Blvd., where it has been for five years, says owner Neila Poteshman.

She says the move will take place over the span of a couple of days at the end of June, and the gym's new space required the removal of a wall to create enough room for its activities.

Poteshman says her clients typically are elderly women who work out at the gym for the preventive-care health benefits of exercise, as well as the support they receive from fellow members. She says the new space's proximity to medical facilities and bus routes will be beneficial to the business.

The Curves outlet employs four people, all of whom will remain with the gym after the move, says Poteshman. There are about 11 Curves franchise operations in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area. The chain is based in Woodway, Texas, and has more than 10,000 locations worldwide, according to its Web site.

Hula Hut restaurant on North Division under new ownership
Ron Riordan, of Spokane, says he has bought the Hula Hut restaurant, at 12210 N. Division, from Brian Finch for an undisclosed sum.

Riordan says the business, which occupies an about 1,300-square-foot leased space and has been in that location for about five years, currently is closed while the walls are painted and the equipment undergoes cleaning. He says he plans to reopen the restaurant by June 24.

The Hula Hut serves Hawaiian-style dishes with an American twist, he says. Offerings include slow-roasted pork dishes, Portuguese sausage, and teriyaki bowls.

Riordan says the restaurant will employ about six people, most of who will work part time. It will be open daily for lunch and dinner.

Real estate agency opens on Hamilton
Former Seattle real estate broker Joe Kelly has opened an agency here, called Soleil Real Estate Partners, that charges its agents a fee of $79 a month, but allows them to keep 100 percent of the commission they earn in a transaction.

Kelly says the office is located in a 1905 Victorian-style house at 2428 N. Hamilton that he and his wife, Mary, have bought and renovated.

The agency will focus mostly on residential properties. It currently has five agents, though Kelly says he'd like to expand that sharply over the next year. The office will be able to provide agents with some desk space and use of computer terminals as needed.

Kelly is a Spokane native, and both he and his wife are Gonzaga University graduates. He says they moved to the Seattle area about 15 years ago, and he operated a real estate agency there under the Soleil name until 2006 when they decided to move back to Spokane. He says they have been looking for an ideal location for a real estate office here for two years.

Software company secures office space


Vision Municipal Solutions LLC, a company here that provides financial management software systems to municipalities, has opened an office in Spokane after three years of operating as a home-based business.

Founded in 2006 by co-owners John Engebretson, Craig Lodgard, and Brandon Frick, the company now will serve clients from a leased 2,500-square-foot office, at 307 W. Francis. Vision Municipal Solutions serves more than 150 municipalities in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, providing financial, payroll, and utility-management software used to track revenues and expenditures for state audit reporting.

Engebretson says the owners conducted business out of their homes until launching plans this year to expand. All three owners previously worked 15 years for Application Software Products Inc., in Spokane Valley, a company bought out in 2005 by Harris Computer Systems.

Engebretson says the new office will give their business with room to grow.

In addition to the three owners, the business has four employees and plans to add two more.

Event center expands into catering services


Enjoy Services LLC, which operates a 4,000-square-foot event facility, called the Sapphire Room, in the Riverwalk Plaza, at 1003 E. Trent, has leased an additional 2,000 square feet of space in the south section of the building for a catering facility, called Rubies on the River, says owner LeeAnn Saccomanno.

Saccomanno says she plans to expand the catering facility into a full-service restaurant next spring. Work is expected to begin soon on a new kitchen area, which will provide food for events at the Sapphire Room and also will cater to outside events later on, she says. Other added space there will be used for customer seating when the restaurant opens. Saccamanno says her late grandmother, Ruby Williams, was the inspiration for the name of the facility, and she plans to use her grandmother's recipes in the menu.

Saccomanno says she still is working on the concept, design, and menu for the restaurant. The project will include new outdoor landscaping, including custom water features. Alderwood Landscaping LLC, of Spokane, is doing that work.