Brothers Eddie and Joe Lavois recently opened V & S Options, a new department store in the former Large Family Hall. - Terry Halifax/NNSL photo

Eddie and Joe Lavois moved to Inuvik 20 years ago as educators and soon went into business operating a convenience store. Later, they bought into the True Value hardware store and eventually bought their partners out.

True Serve is the mother company which owns the True Value franchise and also their newest store, V&S Options.

Eddie Lavois said the brothers were looking to expand on their retail operation at the hardware store, but needed a new building.

"We always thought that there was a variety of things we wanted to do, but we just couldn't because the other store was too small," Lavois said. "It wasn't until the church put this property up for sale that we seriously looked at it."

The offer was accepted by the bishop and in September, the brothers put the plan together and began ordering materials and stock.

"Our last truck came in literally one hour before the ice road closed," he said.

He said customers have been particularly interested in the crafts section of the new store, which will require some fine-tuning to meet the crafter's needs.

"There are people here who are from the North and people here from other communities," Lavois said. "They have many similarities, but there are also a lot of differences, so we're trying to get the basics and we'll go from there."

He said local crafters are very specific in what they want.

"Nellie (Cournoyea) has been very good in telling us what she thinks a lot of Northern people are looking for," he said.

They plan to have a wide variety of fabrics to add to the craft section housed in a separate part of the store.

"They are tickled that it's sort of broken off from the rest of the store and not lumped in with everything else," he said.

Lavois said there were two main factors in deciding to go into the new business.

"We feel that the people of Inuvik and this region will support you if you offer something at a reasonable cost," he said.

The franchise also offered a flexible attitude towards providing the varied stock and that helped ease the anxiety of the new venture.

"What we're trying to do, is start with a base," he said. "We know that there are some things that will slightly change and we have to streamline."

So far, Lavois said reaction has been all positive to the new business.

"Someone commented that it was like a mini Wal-Mart," he laughed. "So I figure that's a compliment."