BURN and move .. eit Wednesday, July 1, 1998 — North Shore News — 15 north shore news oc 1. . North Shore Ski and Board’s Laurell Barker. <> BUSINESS BIBLIOPHILE ... Wendy Hodges and the vast selection of bibles at her Christian book store. Robert Gaister News Reporter robert@nsnews.com WENDY Hodges liked work- ing at the Sign of the Fish Christian book store so much she bought the company. “This is a very special store, a very special place,” said Hodges who was an employee at the store for three years before she bought it in “94. “My husband said if you're going to buy all those books you might as well buy the whole store.” As it turns out, Hodges is about to embark on an expansion that will see the store reclaim the area it occupied back when founder and current North Vancouver City Coun. Stella Jo Dean opened its doors. “It didn’t seem we'd ever get it back but everything just fell: into place,” said Hodges. Staying power The reason Sign of the Fish is able to reclaim the adjoining space is because — Altin store stock 25%. EF VCuTEACESN an _Allreg sto & TRIMS ck * Members - Lonsdale Antiques is shifting its opera- tion to fill a recently vacated storefront further up the tirst block of Lonsdale Avenue. Owners Renate and Peter Zentner have been running their antique store for eight vears and are also expanding. The ovo arrived in Canada more than 30 years ago from their native Germany with few expectations and no definite plans. “We thought we'd uv another country and if we'd like it we'd stay,” recalled Renate. Once here they did a variety of things b. ore settling on antiques. “T sort of believe in recy- cling goods and merchandise and I wanted to sell antique furniture,” said Renate. “I used to work in the fashion business and I wanted a product that doesn’t age.” Burn and move After a fire razed the North Shore Ski and Board store near 17th Street it didn’t take long for its ownership to bounce back on to the Lonsdale retail scene. They resurfaced in the old Bank of J a New arrivals as determined ey Fabrictand “Members 20% OFF Allother regular instore stock Montreal building on the corer of Esplanade and in no time the paper mache dog and fire hydrant felt nght at home in their new digs. Laurell Barker has only worked there for three months, but has man- aged to feel right at home. “I'm the new retail girl. I love it,” said Barker who is also the only retail irl. Barker is familiar with the area because as an amateur songwriter and performer she has been doing steady gigs at the end cafe — only a couple doors down. But the real reason the 19-year-old Argyle product likes her job so much is the clientele. “The people who come in here are totaily into the outdoors,” said Barker. This fall, as the old store location 17 blocks away once again becomes ready for occupation, North Shore Ski and Board will continue operating from both storefronts. The former bank building will house the summer merchandise while the 17th store will -feature winter staff. Once the summer equipment is sold the old bank will once again become vacant. See Gambles page 16 Check out our website! www.fabriclandwest.com fam First in Fabric Selection Quality & Value m= NORTH VANCOUVER a Capilano Mall 986- 4519 Menten Vee newe 875-9244 QUILT BATT FIBRE FILL & FOAM Allin store stack 9 7 im OFF feg pnce ~ OLFA CUTTING - MATS & CUTTERS | . Allin store stock 30% HARDWARE Allin store'stock P2072 Pr Bae é AIRSCHDRAPERY | T TO 0° & af