Kiev Market fills unique needs of customers

The items on the shelves are unique: beef goulash, fried eggplants in a can, soft drinks that appear to be made of wheat.

And unless you speak the language or you’re ready for an adventure, it’s hard to know what many items in the Kiev Market are.

“Most everything is imported,” said Alla Yaresyo, manager of the market. Her family owns three other Kiev Markets in the Spokane area, and they just recently opened a store at 16004 E. Sprague Ave in Spokane Valley.

An immigrant from Ukraine in 1992, Yaresyo spent most of her years growing up in Spokane. As she grew older, she took more time to manage the various stores, a job filled with various challenges.

“Trying to have as much as possible of the foods, and have everything fresh, is hard,” she said. Items that can’t be found in the United States are shipped in from around the globe.

“It’s pretty hard, with different shipping companies and different prices,” she said. “You have to do some shopping around.”

And, of course, the language barrier is also difficult, especially with “everything that has to do with government,” Yaresyo said.

Customers, though, come frequently and have unique tastes, she said. Many shoppers can make special requests for items that would otherwise be impossible to find in America, she said.

As for herself, Yaresyo’s favorite products are probably the malt beverages that she remembered drinking in Ukraine in the 1980s. She’s also a fan of Russian chocolate candy, she said.

The shop is open Monday through Saturday.

Mac Odyssey carries all that is Macintosh

With its fresh wood floors and gleaming racks holding crystal-clear computer monitors, stepping into Mac Odyssey at 13127 E. Sprague Ave. is almost like stepping into the future.

At least that’s what owner Bob Dilley wants customers to think. His store features a full line of Macintosh computers, iPods and accessories, including printers.

The store held a grand-opening event last week, handing out prizes while a musician played for a small crowd.

“We’re going to push more business-to-business sales,” said Dilley, who already owns a Macintosh-related store in Coeur d’Alene.

The store offers free training classes for Mac users and offers in-house technical support that can’t be found with most other computer manufacturers, Dilley said.