SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Range Lake area has its Reddi Mart. Downtown denizens have Shoppers Drug Mart and a slew of options on 50 Street. Residents in Old Town can go to Weaver and Devore.

The family behind the newly opened Sunlines Convenience Store & Clothing on Franklin Avenue poses in front of the racks adorning the convenience store side of the store. From left, son Alan, owner Thanh Huynh, Huynh's wife and the designer of all the clothes in the store (including the parka she's wearing) Chinh Duong, and daughter Phoenix, who's soon off to university. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

But people living in the Niven Lake area have not had a convenience store to call their own for many years. Until now.

Last week, Sunlines Convenience Store & Clothing opened in the Franklin Avenue building that, until earlier this year, housed Linco's Pottery Nook and, before it, Papa Jim's Pizza Pizzeria and Originals by T-Bo, to name only a few former occupants.

But as the name of the new business and a cursory walk inside quickly made clear, Sunlines is more than just a convenience store.

Sure, one side of the store is taken up by a familiar roster of Saturday night munchies, dry goods and bottled beverages.

But the other half is stocked to the brim with a colourful explosion of jackets, dresses and parkas, many beautifully adorned with images unique to the North – polar bears, dog sleds, Northern Lights – or images otherwise eye-popping.

"Winter's so long and everybody sees the snow. So a flower on your jacket means spring is coming. It makes you be more excited," said owner Thanh Huynh, who was born in Vietnam and has called Yellowknife his home for the past 30 years.

The artist behind all the clothes is his wife of almost 20 years, Chinh Duong, whose considerable output is finally going on public display after years of being kept inside the couple's home and rented storage space in Frame Lake.

Duong makes all the clothes from scratch using materials shipped primarily from Montreal.

The idea behind the clothes is simple: showcase what makes Yellowknife unique to visitors from Japan.

"People want to bring something back to their homeland that they can introduce to their people. Our (city) can go all over the world," said Huynh.

As for the convenience store, Huynh knows his business has a special foothold.

During the winter, he said, "It's difficult for (people) to start vehicles to go downtown, or to walk downtown."

In addition to two other staff members who, together with Duong, keep watch over the store during the day, Huynh is helped by the couple's two children, Grade 10 student Alan and older daughter Phoenix.

But the staff is about to shrink by one.

While she's currently helping out as a cashier, Phoenix will be leaving in two weeks to start the first year of a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Alberta.

"We've been putting in display racks, moving things from our house to here, pricing ordering – a lot of stuff in two weeks," said Phoenix.

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