Sports card outlet moving in Valley

Spokane Valley Sportscards is moving this month to 9404 E. Sprague from 9411 E. First, in Spokane Valley.

Owner Alan Bisson said the move is necessary because he lost his lease when the building where he's currently located was sold. The Sprague Avenue location formerly was occupied by Best Buy Stove Shop.

Bisson says he hopes the new location will be more visible and attract new customers. The card shop sells new and vintage sports cards, autographed jerseys, plaques, and sports equipment. It's open from 2 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Bisson also owns Photographic Designs, an architectural photography studio he operates from his Spokane Valley home. He says he bought Spokane Valley Sportscards three years ago, after selling cards there on consignment and helping the former owner run the shop.

Startup in Post Falls investigates bedbugs

Greg Terry, of Post Falls, recently opened a home-based company, Bed Bug Scouts. He uses a 2-year-old female pocket beagle, Sammie, to sniff out low infestations of bedbugs in homes or businesses. Terry bought Sammie from Florida, where she previously had been trained. The inspection time is shorter for a dog than it is for humans, Terry says.

"Dogs are the best tool on the market to detect bedbugs," Terry says.

Terry has contacted pest control companies that might be interested in the services. Eden Advanced Pest Technologies, of Spokane, uses Bed Bug Scouts for early bedbug detection.

"Dogs are 98 percent effective in finding bed bugs," says John Polignoni, regional account manager for Eden Advanced Pest Technologies.

Bedbugs give off a sweet, musty odor, and dogs are trained to pick it up, just as they can be trained to sniff out bombs or drugs, Terry says.

Law firm here returns to Rock Pointe center

Spokane law firm Paul J. Burns PS is moving to a 1,200-square-foot space in the Rock Pointe Corporate Center, at 1212 N. Washington.

The firm, for which Paul Burns and his wife, Dana Griffin Burns, are the only attorneys, had leased an office at Rock Pointe for 20 years, then moved to the Paulsen Center, 421 W. Riverside, in 2007.

"We missed the culture and climate at Rock Pointe, so when our lease was up, we decided to move back," Paul Burns says.

The firm, which has two employees besides the Burnses, represents clients in employment cases, civil rights litigation, and personal injury matters.

Tile Outlet relocates westward on Sprague

Spokane-based Homespun Enterprises LLC, which owns and operates Tile Outlet, has moved its Spokane Valley store to a leased 2,700-square-foot space at 4808 E. Sprague.

The business previously was located in a leased 3,500-square-foot space at 5320 E. Sprague. Owner Don Foss says he moved the business when its lease expired to minimize costs. Improvements to the new space have been handled by the landlord, Foss says.

Homespun Enterprises had owned a Tile Outlet store at 12519 N. Division on Spokane%u2019s North Side, which it acquired in January 2010 when another operator folded, but Homespun closed that store last August. The company moved all remaining inventory to the Spokane Valley location.

Foss previously had worked as a manager for the North Side Tile Outlet store before acquiring it.

Tile Outlet specializes in tile, natural stone, ceramic, porcelain, and granite counters. Tile Outlet has two employees, including Foss.

Tech startup begins EmployableMe.com

A Spokane startup, Ogs Noodle LLC, has developed a video conferencing technology it calls OVIR, for Online Video Interview and Review. The company has launched a website using the technology, called EmployableMe.com, and has begun helping clients improve their interview skills to increase their chances of landing a job.

Co-owner Bryan Nugent says the company has coached eight clients in its first two months of operation. EmployableMe.com charges from $130 to $300 for one to three practice interviews, which it conducts remotely via webcam. The interviews are studied by human-resource professionals working for the company, and a review with suggestions for improvement is given to each client.

Ogs Noodle%u2019s OVIR technology was developed by its other co-owner, Richard Hancock. Besides Nugent and Hancock, the company has one other full-time employee and five part-time employees who all work from their homes.

Vehicle glass store moves on Sprague

Grizzly Glass Centers Inc., of Hayden, Idaho, has moved its 10-year-old Spokane Valley store to 15205 E. Sprague from 8014 E. Sprague.

Dan Blubaugh, manager of the Spokane Valley store, says the new 2,500-square-foot space is slightly smaller than the former location, but it's closer to the street and gets more drive-by traffic. The company spent about $25,000 remodeling the new space.

Steven Wright, who has owned the business with his wife, Kristee, since 1997, says sales dropped off in the third quarter of 2009 and all of 2010, but have increased this spring over the same period last year.

"Things are definitely picking up," he says.

About 75 percent of Grizzly Glass's business is vehicle window replacement. The other 25 percent is residential and commercial glass, such as tabletops, mirrors, or window repair, Wright says. The business has 11 employees in all: seven in Hayden, three in Spokane Valley, and one who does mobile work out of a small leased space in Sandpoint, Idaho.