Eye clinic will open soon in Liberty Lake

Lilac Family Eye Care PLLC plans to open Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 23505 E. Appleway, in Liberty Lake, says Dr. Michelle Darnell, an optometrist.

The clinic will provide routine examinations and disease management for medical conditions that affect the eyes, Darnell says. It also will work with physicians to help patients manage chronic conditions that put vision at risk, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, she says.

The practice will specialize in multifocal contact lenses for patients who would benefit from multiple prescriptions in a set of lenses.

The single-doctor optometry practice, which has a second, part-time employee, also will be a red-eye urgent care clinic and will treat people with red or painful eyes, as well as people with foreign objects embedded in their eyes, she says.

She says she’s fluent in Spanish and can conduct eye exams in that language.

Darnell, who previously practiced optometry at Eyeguys Optical, in Spokane Valley, says she chose to open Lilac Family Eye Care as an independent practice because she “thought it’d be nice to be in control of my own schedule and treat patients how I believe they should be treated.”

Additionally, Darnell claims Liberty Lake needs another optometry practice, because there are only two others in the city.

Lilac Family Eye Care will be open 9 a.m.-6p.m. Tuesday and Friday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. every other Saturday.

—Samantha Peone

 

Wine cellar moves to larger location

Liberty Lake Wine Cellars has moved to a larger facility at 23110 E. Knox, in Liberty Lake, says co-owner Mark Lathrop.

The winery now occupies 4,300 square feet of space, having moved from an 1,100-square-foot facility at 1108 S. Garry Road.

Lathrop says the winery needs the larger space because production volume has been increasing.

This year, the winery produced 1,250 cases of wine, and he expects it will reach 5,000 cases within five years.

In previous years, the winery produced 500 to 800 cases.

The new location will include a 1,300-square-foot tasting room, and the rest of the facility will be used for production, Lathrop says.

The Knox Avenue location also has better parking access and can be open year-round, he says. The previous site was in a residential neighborhood and was closed in the winter.

Liberty Lake Wine Cellars’ wines are made from grapes sourced from the Red Mountain American Viticultural Area, in south-central Washington.

The winery currently is selling six red wines, two whites, and a rose, he says

Including Lathrop and his wife, Sarah, who is also a co-owner, the winery employs five people, all of whom work part time.

Liberty Lake Wine Cellars is open 4-8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

—Samantha Peone

 

Yuppy Puppy to add downtown location

Spokane pet supply store and grooming service The Yuppy Puppy LLC plans to open a second location at 830 W. Sprague downtown, in what was formerly the Agave Latin Bistro restaurant space.

“Over the years, we’ve gotten a lot of customer requests for a second location,” says Aquila Brown, who co-owns the business with her husband, Gavin. “This downtown space is nice and central, with a lot of nearby pet-friendly dwellings that don’t yet have nearby services like ours.”

Brown says the Yuppy Puppy’s current location, a 2,400-square-foot space at 9511 N. Newport Highway, has 18 employees.

She says the 11-year-old business’ services include pet grooming, self-service pet washing stations, doggy daycare, and a selection of natural pet foods for both dogs and cats.

Brown says the couple signed a lease on the 7,600-square-foot space at the northeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Lincoln Street in August and have been remodeling it.

“There are still a lot of renovations to be done, but we’re hoping to be ready to open this December,” she says. “I expect we’ll hire two to three more people to help with operations.” 

Brown says the downtown location will offer all of the same services as the business’ North Side space, with the exception of doggy daycare services.

“Unfortunately, the downtown location will not offer daycare due to zoning regulations,” she says. “But we’re really excited to join the downtown scene, and people already seem pretty excited to have us.”

—LeAnn Bjerken

 

Barber Shop moves to new Hamilton site

Spokane barber David Bloyed has moved his business, known simply as Barber Shop, from its previous location to a new space at 2207 N. Hamilton.

Bloyed is leasing the business’s current 600-square-foot space, which he says previously had been occupied by a hair salon.

“We didn’t have to do much before moving in, and so far, it’s been wonderful,” he says. “We’ve got some good customers who’ve managed to find us again, and we’re still quite busy.”

 Bloyed describes Barber Shop as a traditional, old-school shop that offers shaving, as well as men’s and women’s haircuts. The business currently has three employees, including Bloyed.

Bloyed, who’s been a barber for more than 33 years, says he’s operated Barber Shop, formerly located at 2114 N. Division, for eight years, but was forced to relocate the business at the end of the summer.

“Our old location was purchased by new owners who had other plans for the block,” he says. “We’d been looking for a space for a while when a customer suggested this spot.”

Barber Shop’s previous location was demolished to make way for a 1.5-acre commercial complex being planned by S&S Ruby LLC, called the North Gateway Center. 

As the Journal previously reported, the North Gateway Center project is being developed on the block between Ruby and Division streets that’s bordered by Ermina Avenue to the south and Montgomery Avenue to the north.

Plans for the project include construction of the 6,900-square-foot Advance Auto Parts and renovation of the former Brock’s Gunsmithing Inc. building at 2104 N. Division at the southwest corner of the block, as well as space for an anticipated future retail building at the northeast corner.

—LeAnn Bjerken