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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Provided he does not get struck by lightning or some other terrible calamity does not befall him, Francois "T-Bo" Thibault said he will reopen his store on Saturday.

The Yellowknife jeweller and wax carver has had his share of bad luck when it comes to keeping his business, Originals by T-Bo, open. But he said he hopes a move to the Monkey Tree Mall will give him the fresh start he needs.

Francois "T-Bo" Thibault, owner of Originals by T-Bo, has relocated his store to the Frame Lake area. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Previously located in the building that now houses Linco's Pottery Nook on Franklin Avenue, Originals by T-Bo was forced to move from that spot with little notice, Thibault said. But the pattern of his life is made up of nothing but surprises.

While driving around in Norman Wells in 1982, two days before starting a job as a jumbo drill operator, Thibault, already a veteran hand at diamond drilling projects, got into a car accident.

Thibault said he was ejected from his car "and did a field goal through the bush and landed on my back."

The accident came back to bite him years later, in 2003, when he was busy preparing opening the first incarnation of his store.

"As I was pushing a crate, my back went out," he said. The injury forced him to scrap his plans for the store.

"That was very frustrating," he said.

Eighteen to 20 months of recovery followed, and Thibault set his sights on the Franklin Avenue spot, which he had to vacate this summer.

Now he's moved out of the downtown, despite his preference to stay there.

"My mother always told me I had a hard head," said Thibault. "I've been doing this for 25 years and I'm not physically capable of going back to the mining industry. So to me it was just another challenge to find a new space."

He said it wasn't easy.

"I couldn't find anything suitable downtown, because everything's either too big or too expensive," he said. "That's the base that generates the extra income that allows you to buy better equipment and to grow."

In the end, his new space has an additional 150 square feet for him to work in.

With less visibility in his new Range Lake location, Thibault said he will rely primarily on word of mouth, but he also hopes people will go to him because they want products made in the North, by a Northerner and with Northern materials.

While he's mostly settled in, Thibault still can't seem to catch a break.

"I picked the 15th for my grand reopening and it's the same day as the Elks Hall crafts sale," he said, sighing.