Yellowknife (Apr 27/05) - Judging from the walk-in traffic on its first day of business, the new location of Linco's Pottery Nook is going to be a tremendous success.

The craft store moved into the old Yellowknife Hardware and opened for business on Monday.

Linco Schoenne said packing at the old store was done by herself, her assistant manager Shirley Harrison and her sister Annemieke Mulders. "We were amazed. We thought it would take two weeks to pack up, but after four days we were done," she said. "We had to close the doors because everything was packed."

The packing was done April 8, the goods were moved April 11 and the new store opened April 25.

While there is more space in the new location, Linco's only occupies the top floor. A new hardware store will take up residence downstairs.

Klaus Schoenne, Linco's husband, said the new store should be open by the beginning of June at the latest.

Klaus will run a True Value Hardware store. "I've had a lot of positive feedback," he said, adding many tradespeople wanted a hardware store downtown to save them time from having to travel to the other side of the city to pick up a part.

A clause stating no hardware store would be erected in the building was taken out of the purchase arrangement when the Schoennes bought the building after the deal between Yellowknife Hardware and the Home Building Centre failed to proceed.

"The England family ran the business for 60 years and they didn't shut down because of bankruptcy," said Klaus.

He would not say how much he's investing in his new business, but he did say it was "very reasonable."

He explained True Value operates like a co-operative in the sense that "you're buying the right to do business with the co-op. We run their banner and buy out of their distribution house in Winnipeg. It saves me from going to 100 different suppliers."