Its said that even the best day working cant measure up to the worst day spent fishing or golfing, but Jeri Arnold spends her workdays surrounded by items that capture the fun of these two popular sporting pastimes.


She and her husband, radio broadcaster Jim Arnold, own Hooks & Tees, a Lincoln Heights shop filled with merchandise with a golf or fishing theme. From the putting green near the door to the framed Atlantic salmon flies from Scotland hanging on the wall, the shop offers an intriguing mix of gifts, accessories, equipment for golfers and anglers, and a custom T-shirt printing setup in the back.


Jeri Arnold entered the world of gift shops and custom-printed T-shirts about 10 years ago, after working in an office for years, she says. She went to work at Special-Ts, a NorthTown Mall gift shop that sold T-shirts printed with designs. When the owner of that shop decided to sell the equipment used to transfer designs to T-shirts two years ago, the Arnolds bought it.


We bet the farm starting out, Arnold says.


It was hard for the couple to start their own business, she says, but it was nice to be able to focus on things she and her husband enjoy. His family golfs; mine fishes, she says, and the combination seemed natural.


Becky Rushing, Arnolds former co-worker at Special-Ts and now manager at Hooks & Tees, designed a logo with a sporty fish preparing to tee off for a round of golf. A golf tee and fish hooks help to spell out the name.


Arnold and Rushing keep the shop open seven days a week year-round, with occasional help from some teenagers.


Arnold traveled to a gift show in San Francisco that first year and still frequents a wholesale market in Seattle to find much of the unique merchandise seen in the store. The search for new products took her to a show in Dallas this summer, and she says her regular vendors introduce her to new items that fit the specialized themes of the store.


Youve got to keep it fresh, Arnold says of the selection at Hooks & Tees.


She orders only a few of each item, usually less than a dozen, so her inventory is constantly changing. She says regular customers stop in frequently to check out the latest finds and buy quickly because an eye-catching ornament or goofy gag gift might not be there next time. Of course, a few of the most popular items, such as the hillbilly putter, a rugged contraption of bark-covered sticks, or Piddle, Poop, and Putt, a golfing game that fits around the base of a toilet, are reordered time and again, she says. Learning what works and what doesnt is a constant process, she says.


Arnold also sells the works of local authors, artists, and artisans. She says she likes offering local products because, if you feed the economy here, it will feed you back.


Local talent also lets her sell custom products such as end tables with legs decked out in a customers old golf shoes, argyle socks, and knickers, and a rack of coat hooks made from the heads of putters. For the fishermen is a boat-shaped coffee table with a glass top that covers a display area inside.


Arnold says she deals with local artists on a consignment basis at first and then as a vendor if their work is popular. Hooks & Tees also sells a variety of other items on consignment, ranging from used golf clubs and antique fishing lures to feather-covered pheasant rumps and hackles that hobbyists use to tie flies.


The selection of golf equipment for sale at the store started with the consignment of used clubs and putters, but Arnold says this summer the golf section got a lot of attention as she added a selection of new equipment.


We started with just gifts and now have equipment like balls, bags, and clubs, Arnold says.


The store also added a putting green so shoppers can try a putter before they buy, or get in some extra practice while a spouse shops.


A big part of summer business at Hooks & Tees comes from supplying prizes for golf tournaments that companies and nonprofit organizations sponsor, Arnold says. She says she will special order items that can be used as prizes, provide custom engraving or embroidery, and wrap and deliver prizes.


Arnold says she wants to add to the fishing side of the store next, possibly with fishing vests or other outdoor clothing. Also growing is a selection of items with a lodge or hunting theme.


Right now, though, Hooks & Tees is gearing up for its third Christmas since opening Nov. 1, 1996. Arnold says the store will be transformed for the holidays, shifting its focus back to gift items rather than the equipment offered in spring and summer. A station for free gift wrapping has been set up in the back of the store in part of the space usually used for printing T-shirts.


More than just T-shirts can be printed at Hooks & Tees, Arnold says. She keeps a selection of the most popular printable items, such as shirts, hats, tote bags, and mouse pads, in the store, and works with a manufacturer in Seattle who can supply a variety of articles of clothing ready to be printed with a design.


Hooks & Tees custom printing operation uses clamp-like irons that supply heat and pressure to transfer a paint design onto a shirt or other item. To create the transfers, the design is silk-screened onto a sheet of silicon-coated paper, a process that is commonly used with licensed designs, but rarely available for local logos, Arnold says.


She says custom designs printed in such fashion can easily be stored and then applied to garments as needed, which is less expensive than having to screen print numerous T-shirts and then store them. Organizations ranging from the neighborhood Community Oriented Policing Station (COPS) Southeast substation and a senior center to service clubs, small businesses, and bowling teams all have used the service, Arnold says.


Sports teams that want to add members names to the T-shirt uniforms provided by sponsors also make up a big part of the customer base. Arnold says she and Rushing during busy times might apply 500 letters a day.


Hooks & Tees also has a selection of Spokane and Washington transfers ready to transform any shirt into a souvenir shirt. Rushing will put her artistic talents to use to design a logo, and Arnold is the self-proclaimed designated speller for the operation. Arnold says she also can arrange direct silk screening and embroidery for customers. These services arent done at Hooks & Tees, but are sent out to other local businesses, she says.


Arnold says the varied aspects of the shop complement one another and it always seems to be a busy season for one section or another. Sales doubled from Hooks & Tees first year to its second, and Arnold expects the growth to continue.


We sell all we bring in, Arnold says. Sometimes I wish we could grow faster.


She says the one store is all she and her tiny staff can handle now, but the Arnolds talk of opening more outlets. She says she would one day like to add smaller Hooks & Tees shops on the North Side and in the Spokane Valley.