If You Want To Hang It, This Couple Will Frame It

Tari and Robert Bernard are turning a hobby that began with a few John Hancocks into a business they hope will earn them a few George Washingtons.

The Valley couple opened Traditions on Trent, a new custom framing business, this week. The shop is in a converted brick house at 11829 E. Trent. It carries almost 900 different types of frames.

The Bernards will frame anything from fine art to diplomas and other documents to autographs. The couple got interested in framing about four years ago, when they began collecting celebrity signatures.

“My husband’s uncle passed away, and we went to help with the estate,” Tari remembered. They found a box containing what they at first thought were old family photographs. Instead, it was full of autographed pictures of big-screen celebrities, even a letter from Ronald Reagan. Robert’s uncle had been a disc jockey during the 1940s, and had rubbed some well-known elbows.

The Bernards started collecting signatures themselves, and decided to learn how to frame them. Tari started doing framing for others three years ago from her home. Then Robert retired from his government job in the fall, and the couple decided to go full-time.

Now the quaint, brick house will be stocked with originals and reproductions of work done by local artists. Customers can weave up the stairs and through the halls from exhibit to exhibit. The Bernards have just a few pieces in now, but are hoping to get more.

“If we support the local artists, we figure they’ll support us,” Robert said.

Cole’s closes

Cole’s Town & Country Furniture, 13917 E. Sprague, has closed its doors.

The business had been operated in the Valley for 12 years. It moved from 13524 E. Sprague in 1991.

In 1993 the store, then known as Cole’s Traditions in Oak, was sold to California businessman Lee Higginson. Members of Higginson’s family managed it.

The original owner, Brian Cole, was killed during a robbery at the store in 1992. His widow, Michele Cole, ran the store for a time before selling it.

Higginson could not be reached for comment about why he closed the store.

Bill Brooks, a broker with Pinnacle Realty, said the 6,000-square-foot building is now up for lease. Pinnacle is handling the search for a new tenant.

, DataTimes