Tuesday, Aug. 5, 1997

Sherry Grindeland: Shopowner chooses spaciousness over quaint

Brian Lurie says he traded his quaint shop for a businessman's heaven - oodles of floor space and free advertising during the morning and evening commute.

Lurie, owner of the Yuppie Pawn Shop in Kirkland, just moved everything from his downtown Kirkland store to his shop in the Totem Lake Shopping Center.

Well, not quite everything.

"We left the rats behind," Lurie says.

Rumors abound in Kirkland about construction in the downtown area sending rats scurrying for new locations. No rumor, says Lurie who says the critters dined on his phone lines and danced above the ceiling tiles in his shop.

He had operated the downtown Kirkland store for five years, opening his Totem Lake branch a year ago when he needed more room. He liked the vast floor space in the building between Interstate 405 and the main shopping center.

"I can take motorcycles and big stuff now," Lurie says. "In the downtown store, I was out of space. I could only take in jewelry, small jewelry."

Then he discovered the advertising opportunity.

"I've got $10,000 worth of neon signs here," he says. "People see it as they go by on the freeway morning and night at 2 miles per hour."

You can reach Sherry Grindeland by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, fax at 425-453-0449, e-mail at sgri-new@seatimes.com or mail at The Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004.

Back