More Business Columnists

• Stacy Sacco: Savor 'Cheese' book's lessons on tackling change
• Randy Burge: Locally grown foods grow in popularity
• Stacy Sacco: Want to develop a situation card?

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Another Eckerd's question answered!

Sure, that reads like a tabloid headline, but you know you want to know.

The Eckerd's building at Coors Boulevard and Ellison Drive Northwest is being converted for a furniture store.

Now, I know what you're thinking, because I thought it, too. The last thing I'm going to be excited about is another bland furniture store. On the West Side.

But perk up. This one is something different.

The store, Tres Amigos, carries rustic and Spanish Colonial furnishings. And by that, the owners mean they aren't carrying anything that has fluorescent colors or cutouts.

It's authentic, "deep Mexico" furniture.

Keith Kramer and friend Garrett Smith developed their concept in Tucson. It's boomed from there. The pair plans to have 13 to 15 stores open by 2007, with three in New Mexico.

The Eckerd's store opens Nov. 1. A new building, at Renaissance Boulevard Northeast near the PetSmart at I-25 and Monta¤o Road, is scheduled to open March 1. The third is planned for Santa Fe, but negotiations are still under way.

"We are an inch wide and a mile deep," Kramer says. "We're not out to compete with American Home or any of those guys. Almost everything we carry is exclusive to us."

The owners visit villages in Indonesia, China, Mexico and elsewhere to buy original pieces.

"We have them design functional furniture," he says. "It's rustic but it still works. You can't find this just anywhere else."

Le Caf‚ Miche & Wine Bar is gearing up for a fall full of wine, art and high dining.

Cooking classes, art classes and wine/food pairings are all on the menu. And to pull it off, the restaurant is pairing itself with a handful of other professionals.

For $330 per person (materials included), instructor Ivena Rutledge will teach a six-week oil painting class in the wine bar.

The restaurant is also putting together "wine & culinary adventures" with Jed Steele with Steele Wines.

And, chef Claus Hjortkjaer is putting together a menu perfect for stargazing with astronomer Geoff Goins.

Cosmic.

Shope welcomes questions and comments about the Duke City's retail scene. She can be reached at tshope@abqtrib.com.