Lake Cowichan's Scarlett's Second Hand Boutique has a new coffee bar.
Owner Scarlett Feltrin recently completed some minor renovations to her store, located next to the post office at 40 South Shore Rd., and decided to add the new take-out coffee and espresso bar to better serve the needs of her customers.
But, to make space for the bar, Feltrin said she decided to discontinue her clothing area at the store.
Scarlett's Second Hand Boutique specializes in second-hand refurbished furniture, vintage household items and locally created art work, greeting cards, jewelry and pottery.
"Discontinuing our clothes section allows for a larger selection of furniture and other items, as well as the coffee bar," Feltrin said.
"There was an espresso bar in the community, but it recently closed so I saw a window of opportunity open for me," she said.
"I'm a mom with two kids and I'm always out walking and looking for some place to have a coffee. I serve Drumroaster Coffee from Cobble Hill and cookies made at the nearby Deep Fried Ice Cream store, which are all made from scratch."
Feltrin first opened Scarlett's Second Hand Boutique almost six years after she moved to the area from Victoria with her husband, who is from Lake Cowichan.
She said there weren't a lot of jobs in the town at the time, so she made up her mind to create her own job and opened the store.
"My mom had a second-hand store in Victoria so I already had a lot of experience in this field," she said.
"The rent was cheap and the overhead was low, so I decided to give it a go. I've had two children since then, have hired more help and have managed to keep the doors open. There have been some tough times, but we're doing well."
Feltrin said that, despite the hard work she has put in to make the store a success, the amount of artistic talent in the area makes it easier for her to meet artisans and display their art in the store.
"There's lot of talent around here, but not many places for them to display their art to the public, so I saw a need and filled it," she said.
Feltrin said that while her store reopened about a month ago after the renovations were completed, the new coffee bar opened just over a week ago as the required permits and licences took time to acquire.
"I even have a play area for the kids so the parents can have a coffee while they shop and their children will be entertained," she said.
"The shop is located right next to the post office so the foot traffic here is very heavy, with lots of people dropping by looking for our locally made coffee and cookies."