‘Something for everyone’

While on a relaxing retreat away from work, Christine Ely of Coeur d’Alene thought of an idea for starting a new business. She and her mother, Edith, were on a tropical cruise in St. Martin several years ago when their ship had docked and she walked into the store, Del Sol, and became inspired.

“I saw how much fun the employees were having,” she said, and that started the business ball rolling.

Both Christine, 43, and her husband, Craig, 52, had been mulling over the idea of starting a new business as they neared retirement. But there was one stipulation: It had to be fun.

“We were kind of thinking, ‘What could we do that could be fun?’ ” said Christine Ely, dressed in some ultraviolet-altering garbs in their new Del Sol store at 2071/2 Sherman Ave. “And all of a sudden, it dawned on me.”

Starting a business wasn’t entirely new to Christine; she had already opened her own hair salon in 1984. And Craig, who had spent more than 30 years in the corporate world, was also looking for a fresh undertaking to enjoy in his pre-retirement years.

The sun-inspired clothing and accessory store on St. Martin was unique in that all the employees seemed to be having a great time while working in Del Sol’s cool tropical and touristy ambience. The Elys, who have been married for 19 years, researched Del Sol on the Internet and learned that the stores had popped-up in tourist towns around the world.

Using Spectrachrome – a NASA-developed crystal dye that changes colors from exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet light – in their products, Del Sol offers everything from fleece to flip-flops, hair clips to hats. To date, 76 of the stores have opened across the globe.

The couple began to piece together a business plan for the first Pacific Northwest Del Sol. Using their own startup capital for the business, the duo thought Del Sol would be a perfect fit for the Coeur d’Alene. But one lingering question remained: Where to set up the store?

“You absolutely have to have the location,” Christine Ely said. “You have to have a touristy place to get it rolling.”

They had heard that the Lotions and Potions shop on Sherman Avenue was vacating and decided to wait for the spot to open up. In the interim, the Elys had polished their business plan with the help of information from the city’s chamber of commerce and from other Del Sol stores. Included in the company’s outline were the estimated tourist numbers, what products are hot (and what’s not) and even the design of many Coeur d’Alene-specific articles of clothing.

Meanwhile, some representatives from the Utah-based business had come to check out Idaho, and “they absolutely fell in love with Coeur d’Alene,” Christine Ely said. Since then, they have been involved every step of the way.

From the moment the first semitruck arrived with the products to the actual design of the store’s interior, advisers from the company have helped the couple since their plan started to come to fruition almost two years ago. And the Sherman Avenue location was well worth waiting for, she said.

On August 25, the five-staff-member store opened its doors for business. Even though most of the summertime visitor and tourist rushes had passed, the store has been doing well, the Elys said. They have sold out of flip-flops several times in the past two months.

“What’s great about Del Sol is that it isn’t for just one type of person,” said Craig Ely. Renee Mohr, the store’s manager and a longtime friend of the couple, chimes in from behind the cash register, “There is something for everyone. I guarantee it.”

And how has it been for Mohr as an employee for friends and small-business owners?

“Oh my God, are you kidding me?” she says. “I told Christine I was never going to go back to a full-time job unless it was the right one for me because I had done the whole corporate thing.”

For the Elys, the Del Sol shop has been exactly what they were looking for in their transition to retirement.

Asked if they had any advice for would-be entrepreneurs, Craig Ely said, “Go for it. Do your homework and go for it. We are having a great time.”