Digital document maker moves to larger quarters
Digital Scanning & Imaging Inc. is moving from a 1,450-square-foot space at 2627 E. Trent to a 4,000-square-foot space at 1101 N. Fancher. The 12-year-old company plans to complete the move from its current location, where it has been for five years, by May 1, says owner Ted Solomon.

"We're moving because we need more space," Solomon says. "We have purchased five new scanners in five years. There's a lot of commercial property vacant right now. We got a good deal—we'll have two and a half times the space for 20 percent more than we're paying now."

Digital Scanning & Imaging turns documents into digital files for customers ranging from state, county, and local governments, to medical offices, title companies, law firms, and others.

The company is in final negotiations for a sizable contract with a potential customer Solomon declines to disclose. It currently has five full-time and 3 part-time employees, and the owner says he plans to rehire after the move two people he had previously laid off.

Dodson's Jewelers adds display area for local, regional art
Dodson's Jewelers, a longtime Spokane jewelry store located downtown at 516 W. Riverside, has added fine art to its offerings.

Owner Penn Fix says several factors were involved in the decision. Lorinda Knight retired and closed her art gallery across the street from Dodson's last November. Fix and his wife, Debra Schultz, love art and have collected it for years. Fix also says the giftware industry is changing significantly, and some products the store sold are no longer available, which opened up space in the store for art displays.

Dodson's sells jewelry, watches, clocks, crystal, and china. It appraises and repairs jewelry and timepieces.

"We don't display jewelry on our walls, so there is plenty of room for art," Fix says.

Oil paintings by Charles Palmer, of Spokane, and photography by Dennis Kirkland, of Twisp, Wash., are the first works to be featured at the store. Fix says the store will focus on local and regional artists who are "underexposed" in Spokane.

Dodson's, which Fix's great-grandfather, George R. Dodson, opened in Spokane in 1887, now occupies 4,000 square feet of space and has four full-time and six part-time employees. The jewelry store has always been located on Riverside, but has moved "about once every century," Fix says.

Oxarc takes on new refrigerant line for New York company
Oxarc Inc., a Spokane-based company that sells industrial and welding supplies and industrial, medical, and specialty gases, has become a regional distributor for refrigerants sold under the Glacier brand and manufactured by Hudson Technologies Inc., of Pearl River, N.Y.

The refrigerant gases are pumped into storage warehouses, air-conditioning units for commercial buildings, walk-in freezers, and other cooling units.

In December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a new rule for the production and consumption of all hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants, Hudson Technologies' Web site says. It also says that the 2010 demand for HCFC refrigerants will exceed the supply by 20 percent. The company has implemented a refrigerant reclamation program to help fill that gap, and Ron VanDyke, marketing manager for Oxarc, says the Spokane company has begun shipping used gases from customers back to Hudson for recycling.

VanDyke says one of the reasons Oxarc decided to work with Hudson is that the company is "continually developing more environmentally-friendly gases" that its customers have been requesting.

Oxarc Inc. is owned by Jerry Walmsley and his son, Gregory. It has 300 employees and 18 stores located in Eastern Washington, northeast Oregon, and Idaho. It has been in business since 1968.

The Hop Shop offers new gathering place on South Grand
Brothers Andy and Glen Gardner, both of Spokane, have opened The Hop Shop in 1,000 square feet of leased space at 3803 S. Grand Blvd., in space formerly occupied by Carnegie Square Antiques.

Andy Gardner calls the business "a neighborhood social place for responsible drinking." He says it is clean and funky, with oversized furniture, more like a coffee house than a typical tavern. It offers microbrews and craft brews, both bottled and on tap, and mostly local and West Coast wines in bottles and by the glass. Gardner says snacks such as popcorn, peanuts, and pretzels are available for those who request them.

Gardner says he and his brother spent four years in Mexico, then returned to the South Hill, where they grew up, and prepared to open the tavern. He says he chose the location because there was a lack of neighborhood socializing places in that area.

The Hop Shop is open Tuesday through Sunday, 4 p.m. to close, which Gardner says is typically 10 or 11 p.m., but never later, because "this is a sleepy little neighborhood."

New security company opens in Coeur d'Alene
Ron Brewer, a retired police officer from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, has started a business named Northwest Special Investigations, which he currently is running out of his home in Coeur d'Alene.

Brewer says the new security company provides armed and unarmed guards, video surveillance, investigations, loss prevention services, and personal protection services for individuals, corporate offices, and small businesses.

Brewer contracts with other retired police officers for those services. He plans to target the Seattle area initially, and eventually hopes to secure contracts across the nation. He is marketing the business through a Web site and advertising.

After retiring and moving to Coeur d'Alene, Brewer says he "got extremely bored," and needed to work again. He most recently was the security manager for Silverwood Theme Park, in Athol, Idaho.

All Sports Bar & Grill in Liberty Lake will change name, menu
Spokane Valley businessman Perry Vinson has purchased the assets of All Sports Bar & Grill, at 1803 N. Harvard Road, in Liberty Lake, from Bill Tonani.

Vinson says he also bought the restaurant building from a couple in San Diego and has a long-term lease on the land where the restaurant is located, but he declines to disclose the purchase price.

He plans to change the restaurant's name to True Legends, and change the menu to include fresh dishes made from scratch.

Vinson also owns Alert Distributors, of Spokane Valley, which sells Red Bull energy drinks. He says he decided to purchase the Liberty Lake business because, "It seemed like a good opportunity to diversify." He has hired David Appleman as chef and Tim Goodwin, formerly with the Coeur d'Alene Resort, as general manager. The restaurant has about 12 other full-time employees.

"Our goal is to get Liberty Lake to embrace True Legends as theirs. We want to make it more family friendly," Vinson says. He plans to add a patio with a fireplace and gas heaters for outdoor dining, and says he hopes to have a grand opening in early May.