Furniture painting business launches

Tammy and Erik Tweedy recently opened a custom painting business called Stressed Out LLC that repurposes kitchen and bathroom cabinets to give them a distressed look. They’re operating the company out of their Spokane Valley home.

Erik Tweedy says the couple opened the business in July, and the two of them are the company’s only employees. He says, however, that they’re looking to expand within the year and might hire one additional employee.

The business doesn’t have its own showroom, but it currently displays its repainted cabinets at NW Granite & More, at 3502 N. Market. Photos of Stressed Out’s work are also available at stressedoutllc.com. Tweedy says he thinks the distressed, antique style of painting is popular right now, and the company is working on six to eight projects at any given time. 

Decorative moldings are available as well and are offered by the company as part of a variety of packages. Tweedy says the company offers many packages for customers to choose from, depending on paint and decorations, and the cost is about $13 to $29 per square foot, Tweedy says. “It just depends on how fancy they want to be,” he adds.

Tweedy says repainting cabinets is less expensive than refacing or replacing them. 

“You pick the style, decorations, and the colors and we do all the work,” Tweedy says. “We use high-end painting and wood products.”

Tweedy says Stressed Out uses Annie Sloan Chalk products on cabinets to produce a quality look. 

“Often, once we complete one project for a customer, they come back asking us to do other cabinets in their home or business,” he says.

–Judith Spitzer

Wraps company expands services

A Post Falls vinyl-wrap business that formally operated under the name of Cart Wrappers LLC has rebranded and reopened as CW Wraps & Marketing Inc. after expanding the range of services it offers, says owner Sam Carlino. 

The company, which is located in 4,000 square feet of leased space at 5070 E. Seltice Way, now is offering graphic design services in addition to vinyl wraps for golf carts and other vehicles. It also makes custom window, wall, and floor graphics, Carlino says, as well as other promotional products, such as signs and banners. 

“It was necessary to envelop all that we do in the new ‘Wraps & Marketing’ name,” Carlino says. 

The company launched in late 2010, he says. 

“We started as a golf cart wraps company, doing advertising wraps for companies on golf courses,” he says. “I already had a background in wrap and signage, so people would ask me to wrap their car, their truck, their boat … as we continued to expand, it continued to grow. People started wanting help with business cards, window ads, and in-office ads.”

CW Wraps has six employees currently, Carlino says. 

“We’ve also purchased all our own machines: printers, blotters, and a laminating machine,” he says. 

Carlino says the rebranding also will help the company’s social media and search engine optimization, as the new name encompasses all the services it offers. 

“We needed to be able to reach the masses with our name and our website … it’s a lot easier when you say wraps and marketing,” he says. 

–Katie Ross

Skin-care practice moves farther north

Dr. Gwyneth Blattau Gay and her husband Christopher Gay have moved their medical and cosmetic services clinic, Rejuvenate Rx, from a North Side professional center to 12519 N. Division in the Wandermere area north of Spokane. 

The new office, which occupies 1,500 square feet of floor space, is located in the Wandermere Village Shopping Center.  Previously the business occupied about 1,000 square feet in the Whitworth Professional Center located at 10015 N. Division.

In addition to Gay and her husband Christopher, two estheticians currently work full time at the clinic. 

Dr. Gay provides basic skin care with a product called SkinCeuticals, cosmetic anti-aging treatments, including injectable treatments such as Botox, and ultrasound treatment for the face and neck called Ultherapy.

Gay says she specializes in treating acne and rosacea, a skin condition that causes enlarged blood vessels giving the face a flushed appearance. The clinic also provides treatment for spider veins and sun damage, skin tag removal, full-body waxing and brow and eyelash tinting, she says. As a convenience, Gay provides medical treatment for occasional issues such as sinus infections, skin and nail infections, insect bites and stings, cold sores, and common skin conditions such as warts and rashes. 

The new location is much more visible, Gay says. 

“We have much more walk-in traffic than we had before, and people can just drop in to get a relaxing facial or other services,” Gay says. Consultations are complimentary, she adds. 

Gay says she and her husband, with their two young daughters, moved back to Spokane from Maryland in 2012 to open the business. Her husband is from Spokane and has family here. 

 

–Judith Spitzer

Love @ First Bite leases bigger space

Spokane Valley bakery Love @ First Bite Desserts LLC has reopened in a larger space, says owner Monica Sanders. 

The shop now occupies almost 2,500 square feet of leased space at 14401 E. Sprague, moving there from a 1,100-square-foot leased space at 11305 E. Sprague, Sanders says. 

“The space that we were at was just a little too small,” she says.  

The bakery, which opened in 2011, offers scratch-made cakes and cupcakes, as well as specialty cakes for weddings, birthdays, and other events. Sanders says it also offers baklava, turnovers, and other baked goods.

The shop also has a space for hosting birthday parties and cake decorating classes, she says. 

Sanders says she and her family did some remodeling prior to moving into the space, which she says had been empty for a number of years.  

“It looks completely different; the only thing that’s the same is the shelving,” she says. “We redid the floors …and took the walls down to open up the space, and painted it to make it brighter.”

Sanders has a few friends and family who help in the bakery, and says she hopes to start hiring more employees soon. She says she also plans to expand the shop’s products. 

“In a couple of month we’ll be offering espressos, coffee, tea, and Italian sodas,” she says. 

 

—Katie Ross