Salmon Arm’s downtown core is seeing its share of change.
On Lakeshore Drive, Shuswap Park Mall is undergoing a facelift, with its new look to be complete in about a month.
Owner Bill Laird said all the mall businesses east of Askew’s, including the new home of Dixon’s wine and beer store, will have bigger premises with the removal of the little interior mall and an expansion towards the street.
“Everybody’s very enthusiastic,” he said.
On Alexander Street and Hudson Avenue, changes there include the arrival of Intwined Fibre Arts, which held its grand opening Saturday.
Owner Althea Mongerson, whose business placed third in this year’s Shuswap Launch-a-Preneur program as well as taking the Green Award, is seeing her dream realized.
“I’m pretty pleased that it actually came to fruition,” she said. “My main goal was to get the store front up and running. I basically wanted it to be a gathering place for this community… I wanted to create an environment where people can come in and sit and get inspired by all the colours.”
Intwined Fibre Arts sells yarn and knitting and spinning fibre and the equipment that goes along with it – mostly natural fibres from as many local sources as possible. The shop also offers spinning and knitting classes, as well as featuring the creations of some local artists. It opened Sept. 7 and things have been going well.
“It’s really, really fantastic. We’ve had lots of support and a really good response from the knitting community. There’s lots of traffic through, which is really exciting.”
Mongerson invites people to come sit and knit or simply drop by to take a look.
Intwined Fibre Arts, at 141-C Hudson Ave. NE is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Call 778-489-1090.
Just down the street and around the corner at 305 Alexander St. NE is Pinz Boardshop & Piercing Studios, relocated from its former location at 444 Trans-Canada Highway SW.
The move has meant a smaller store with the ability to focus on its expertise in body piercing.
“We wanted to refocus on what we’re all about originally,” says owner Anna Heckrodt, explaining that during the past five years she expanded the Salmon Arm store, which initially opened in 2001, as well as opening a location in Revelstoke and Sicamous.
Life was getting too crazy, she says, and her presence was wanted in Salmon Arm.
Since then she has closed the other locations and has cut down on stock.
“It’s taking the retail and boutiquing it. It’s been about classing it up.”
Along with piercings, the store will continue to offer skateboard and snowboard clothing and equipment, including shoes.
“We’re really excited to be part of the downtown. We know all the business owners around us and we’re so excited to frequent them,” Heckrodt says.
Pinz Boardshop & Piercing Studios is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 to 4, Sundays and holidays. Call 250-832-8233.
At 141-A Hudson, a new restaurant will be opening within the next couple of weeks – Bradbury’s Restaurant.
Andrew and Misty Bradbury just moved to Salmon Arm and have brought their experience as restaurateurs with them. The couple ran a restaurant near Edmonton for six years. Their visits to Salmon Arm over the years enticed them to investigate opening a business here.
“Everybody around is really, really friendly,” they emphasize, with Misty pointing out that although they came from a town of 6,000, Salmon Arm is friendlier.
Andrew got into cooking back in high school, and found that not only did he have a passion for cooking, but he was also good at it.
The couple is still refining the hours for their restaurant, but say they expect to open for breakfast and then keep serving until about mid-afternoon. They’ll head home to look after their animals – which are like their children – and will probably re-open about 4:30 for supper.
“We try to cater to absolutely everybody – children, grandchildren, parents, teenagers – you name it, we can cook for them.”
The menu will be broad, with fresh, large Belgian waffles one of the breakfast features, and a variety of items for lunch ranging from sandwiches, subs and wraps to pastas and burgers.
“We’ll do what we do best, simple food, quality food. We’re going to try to cater to everybody’s needs. It will be simple, beautiful, clean – all the stuff I’d want in a restaurant,” says Andrew.