New Fort Smith store set to open its doors

Fort Smith will soon have its lighting and music needs met by a new store set to open on Tuesday.

Lumen Supply Technical, run by Jamie Kikoak-Chabun, will offer a range of industrial and residential lights, guitars and music accessories, and various cables.

“I’m very excited about selling lights, because everyone needs light, and I’m really proud of the selection I have,” he said.

The store will also offer instrument care and guitar restringing, audio and video production and staging, and tech work – including basic data recovery.

The store had a “soft-opening” in July for the tech side of the company, with the grand opening pushed until September so Kikoak-Chabun could navigate the Covid-19 barriers that come with opening a retail store.

“It keeps you on your toes though, you have to consider everything: where everything is placed, how it’s lit, is there enough room to walk through, where are you going to put the hand sanitizers,” Kikoak-Chabun said.

Music has been a big part of his life – he was in the Fort Smith band State of the Art – and he is excited to sell guitars and offer instrument services.

He says he has been taking care of other people’s musical instruments for some time, and this is a way to incorporate it into the business.

“I’m very passionate about music, specifically guitar and drums because I’ve played in a band forever,” he said.

“The North has a lot of very essential businesses, and I feel like that’s what I’ve geared my business towards.”

The shop is located in the Boreal Sun Building and will have one employee in addition to Kikoak-Chabun. A maximum of three people can enter at a time under the current Covid-19 protocols.