Yellowknife (Dec 22/04) - There are a few new words for cool in the hip-lingo dictionary these days, and Off The Hook is one of them.

Off The Hook is a new mens and womens clothing store owned by Lana Ford.

"I thought the name had to be used elsewhere and I checked, but it wasn't in use. So I thought OK, I'll use it," she said.

Off The Hook has multiple meanings. It can mean awesome or cool, said Ford, but then it can also have the active meaning of "taking clothes off the hook."

"Originally, it was associated with callers requesting songs on a radio station, sending telephones off the hook," she explained.

However you understand it, Off The Hook is a new Yellowknife store located in the Stanton Plaza on Old Airport Road.

Ford is another graduate of the Akaitcho Business Development Corporation.

"They give you an outline for a business plan and an executive summary and you have to come up with the filler," she said.

One of the aspects of her business plan that Akaitcho assisted in was helping Ford think about location.

"Originally I was going to go somewhere else that was cheaper, but Akaitcho convinced me to find an area with more traffic," she said.

Ford invested close to $25,000 into renovations at the store's second floor location. Plus, her stock cost close to $15,000. Now, with no up-front credit from suppliers, it's all about sales.

"It's been slow since we started on Dec. 13, but our advertising is starting up and business should pick up as well," she said.

Some of the clothing lines being offered at Off The Hook include: Echo, Red, G-Unit, J-Lo, Rocawear, Shady, Enyce, as well as Lady Enyce and a Yellowknife exclusive, Phat Farm and Baby Phat.