Charlotte and Jeff Lee opened Creative Escapes St. Cloud on April 30 at 1002-11th Ave N.

Charlotte Lee said her inability to find time to preserve her family photos at home led her to start the business.

The retreat center costs up to $20 a person and accommodates up to eight people. Groups bring their own supplies and use the business' large equipment.

The business is open 6 a.m.-11 p.m. seven days a week by appointment.

Creative Escapes has allowed Lee to begin her dream of starting a bed and breakfast. She hopes to expand the business into a bed and breakfast retreat center in the next five years.

Lee and her husband serve refreshments and treats and pick up meal orders. Clients also may use a full kitchen.

Cartridge World

WAITE PARK — An international printer cartridge retailer opened its first outstate Minnesota store last spring in Waite Park's Sundial Village.

Cartridge World, based in Emeryville, Calif., has eight stores in the Twin Cities and about 35 in the Midwest, Waite Park franchise owner Bill Hafdal said.

The stores refill printer cartridges and sell them for about half the price, he said.

The chain started in Great Britain and Australia before opening U.S. stores about three years ago.

Last summer, the company opened its 100th U.S. store.

Hafdal plans to open a second store early next year, possibly in Sartell.

Midbook moves

Birch Publications moved last month to 5-21st Ave. N in St. Cloud. It publishes the Birch Midbook Telephone Directory. The company operated for five years in an Eich Motors Co. building at 46-19th Ave. S.

Eich Motors razed the building to create a parking lot. Birch John Anderson, general manager, said the company's new 1,500 square-foot space heightens visibility and provides additional storage.

Brother plumbers

Two brothers started their own plumbing business last spring in St. Cloud.

Travess and Ryan Jansky opened Janksy Plumbing April 1 at 239-24th Ave. N.

Their grandfather, Norman Jansky, owned a business by the same name from 1954-77.

Their father also is a plumber and pipe fitter.

The Janskys provide plumbing services in a 30-mile radius of St. Cloud.

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