Parent-Teacher Outlet, the retail store that serves educators and parents, is located at 723 Main St.

It's also at 719 Main St. and 725 Main St.

Angie Wessel, who bought the business in 2004, recently expanded the shop for the second time.

With the new addition, the store now covers 8,000 square feet on two floors. Wessel bought the building next door to their original shop, knocked out walls, remodeled and recently opened in three store spaces.

Parent-Teacher Outlet offers an inventory of educational resources, including classroom furniture, office and classroom supplies. It sells things like science experiments, microscopes, models, easels, globes, art supplies, puzzles, math-teaching equipment and educational games.

"I'm a former teacher. It has always been my dream to have a teacher store," Angie said.

"We now are literally becoming a destination store for teachers," Angie said. As word of the store spread - usually teachers going home from vacation here and telling coworkers about Parent-Teacher Outlet - long-distance shoppers have increasingly been stopping in.

In fact, last year, a group of Japanese students visited the store. They had heard about it and wanted to see for themselves.

She said the shop caters to teachers, home-schoolers, parents who want to coach their kids and grandparents looking for unusual, educational gifts.

For more information, call 343-0550.

Photographer opens Main Street shop

Photographer Lisa Houghton says she has an incredible passion for people.

"When I'm photographing someone, I'm not thinking about backgrounds and lighting. I'm looking for expression, feeling and emotion," she said.

She recently opened a storefront studio, Mona Lisa's Photography, at 615 Main St. in downtown Rapid City. She moved into the new space in March, and she's been remodeling the building into a studio. Part of the space will be a gallery for area artists.

Houghton has been interested in photography since she was a child. She used to hang bed sheets on the wall for a backdrop and shoot photos of the neighborhood kids.

She's been working professionally since 2000, mostly out of her home. Now, she's taking the big step into a studio. "I'm ready for the overhead," she said with a chuckle.

Houghton specializes in portraiture, family portraits senior photos. She does a few weddings, but not too many. She loves to work in black-and-white and fine-art styles of photography.

For more information, call 341-1140

Coffee shop to go

Caravan Coffee is a coffee shop on wheels, sort of.

It's actually a catering and concessions business that features espresso coffees, fruit smoothies, iced coffees and other refreshments.

Arika Beals is the owner of the new Rapid City business.

"So far, we've been doing concessions at large events around town, including Wilson Park and the Heritage Festival. We've got a few under our belt, and we're ready to expand to catering," she said.

"We'll travel to office and corporate functions, conventions, customer appreciation events, holiday parties, family reunions, weddings," she said. "We just need a couple of standard household outlets, and we're ready to go."

Espresso catering is a fairly new concept for Rapid City, she said.

more information, contact Beals at 721-7374 or bealsinsd@rushmore.com.

Talking Business appears Thursdays in the Journal. Contact Dan Daly by telephone at 394-8421, by fax at 394-8463 or by e-mail, dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com