Ice cream maker opens Cd’A shop

 

Sweet Peaks Ice Cream, of Whitefish, Mont., has opened a shop at 108 N. Fourth, in Coeur d’Alene, its first location outside of Montana.

 Owners Marissa and Sam Dauenhauer started the business in 2010 and currently operate three other shops in Montana—at Bigfork, Kalispell, and Missoula. 

The 1,000-square-foot Coeur d’Alene space formerly was occupied by ArtCoLab and includes inside bar stool seating, as well as a roll-up garage door that lifts back to allow for outside patio seating. 

Marissa Dauenhauer says the space’s interior needed little remodeling work, and the couple handled some minor modifications themselves, such as installing countertops, shelving, fixtures, and artwork. 

She says the shop, which opened in early April, now has 11 employees. 

“We spent some time training employees and introducing the community to Sweet Peaks,” she says. “So far, business has been going really well, and we look forward to an awesome summer season.” 

The company makes its ice cream in Whitefish, and then transports it to the other store locations. All of its milk and cream comes from Montana-based Hutterite colony dairy farms and is processed in Great Falls, Mont.

 Dauenhauer says the shop serves nine flavors year-round and rotates additional flavors featuring local ingredients monthly. 

“Those flavors usually depend on what kinds of produce we can get, and how popular it ends up being with customers,” she says. 

One feature of the shop is its canine-friendly treats for customers’ dogs, including ice cream made with beef or chicken broth, as well as lactose-free, bone-shaped popsicles. 

“Coeur d’Alene is a serious dog town,” says Dauenhauer. “It’s really cool to see kids, adults, and pets all enjoying their own treats.”  

Sweet Peaks’ summer hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. all week. 

—LeAnn Bjerken

 

Website owners buy art magazine

 

The owners of Flootie.com, a Spokane-based referral service designed to match artists with buyers and galleries, have bought Art Chowder magazine. 

Dean Cameron and his wife, Pam, long have been patrons of emerging artists and collectors of fine art. The two purchased Art Chowder in March and relaunched the newly configured publication last month with a May/June issue.

The magazine is scheduled to be published six times a year. Dean Cameron says it was established by Pullman-based artist and creative designer Rebecca Lloyd, who will continue as its editor in chief. 

“We’ve combined Rebecca’s talents as a graphic designer and my business background, and used that to expand Art Chowder from its previous artist classifieds style to a broader market,” says Cameron. 

“It’s now an arts-and-entertainment magazine, with opportunities for advertisers as well as those interested in reading about the arts community,” he says. “This is another new vehicle for artists to advertise their work in print and online at a reasonable rate.” 

The magazine focuses on work from visual, performing, and culinary artists, but also includes special features on national and international artists in each issue. 

While Art Chowder covers mostly Inland Northwest artists, Cameron says one of his goals is to expand and create several region-specific magazines with the same encompassing “Chowder Flavor.”

“We’re already starting to see advertisers from regions like Seattle and Portland reach out to us, so we know there is a demand for this kind of product in those areas,” he says. “Once we start seeing success here, I could see us creating a similar product for those markets that features their regional artists.”

Cameron says Art Chowder is available for purchase in Spokane-area bookstores as well as at some art galleries. 

—LeAnn Bjerken

 

Barbershop opens on North Monroe

 

Chris Banka has opened the Brickyard Barbershop in 1,200 square feet of space on Spokane’s North Side, at 2802 N. Monroe.

That location most recently was occupied by Rated R Tattoo, Northwest Tai Chi, and Ross’s Memories on Monroe, Banka says.

“It’s a 110-year old building,” Banka says. “I’d imagine it’s seen a little bit of everything in it.”

Banka opened the business, his first, on May 31. By the end of summer, he expects to have six independent contractors working as barbers at his shop.

“I love doing this,” says Banka, who’s been a barber for 10 years. “It’s been awesome to see this happen. I’m very grateful for this opportunity.”

He says he wants to create a barbershop that has a “community feel” to it. “I want to give guys a great environment where they can come and hang out, whether they want to get a haircut or not,” he says.

Hours of operations are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

—Kevin Blocker

 

Pinot’s Palette shop downtown to move

 

Downtown Spokane’s Pinot’s Palette is set to move in August from its location at 32 W. Second to a larger space at 319 W. Sprague. 

Pinot’s is part of an Austin, Texas-based franchise that offers painting classes coupled with wine and beer service. 

Franchisees Jackie Casey and her husband, Jeff, oversee both the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene Pinot’s studios, the latter of which they opened last November. 

Casey says the downtown Spokane location had begun to outgrow its current space. When the building where it currently occupies space was sold to Catholic Charities of Spokane, she decided the time was right for a move. 

“We’ve been wanting to expand, and our new space can seat up to 60 people and also has a private party room available for weekend events,” she says. 

Casey says the current studio has about 1,250 square feet of floor space, while the new location has 2,800 square feet. 

“The new space needed a lot of remodeling work, but our landlord there has really been great about helping us out, and now it’s nearly ready to move in,” she says. 

Casey says the studio will offer the use of the new private party space for weekend events, in addition to its public classes. 

The studio currently has nine artists who work between its Spokane and Coeur d’Alene studios, and it plans to hire two or three more to assist in operating the larger space. 

—LeAnn Bjerken