YAKIMA, Wash. -- Before I moved to Yakima from Louisville, Ky., more than three years ago, I didn't quite understand the vastness of the Western U.S. geography.

During my move to Yakima, I stopped to visit my friend Priscilla in Fort Collins, Colo. I was excited about the prospect of visiting her more often.

"We're both living out west now!" I gushed.

"You're just as far from me now as you were when you lived in Kentucky," she said with a laugh.

This memory came up as I thought about the Yakima Herald-Republic's coverage area. It includes all or part of five counties, extends as far west as Snoqualmie Pass and hits the Columbia River to the south.

While I'll occasionally mention retail and restaurant activity in Ellensburg or Prosser or note trends going on nationwide, most of my coverage in the Shop Talk blog and in this Reporter's Notebook has been limited to the city of Yakima.

I can give you all the reasons why this has been the case. In terms of numbers, a high concentration of people shop in the Yakima area. The biggest mall is in Union Gap. And it's a whole lot easier to drive (or walk) around Yakima.

But I know I'm missing great ideas for blog entries and stories by not widening my coverage to different areas of Central Washington. And that's a disservice to all the readers who live in areas like Goldendale, Granger, Roslyn and Mattawa.

So my goal is to include stories about restaurants and retail beyond the immediate Yakima area. Now how will I do that?

One way is to drive through every nook and cranny of our coverage area and meet every store owner, restaurant operator and shopper.

But given my growing workload, that isn't always realistic.

This is where you, the reader, come in.

Is there an interesting store owner or restaurant waitress I should profile in your town? Is there some interesting shopping trend going on in your neighborhood? Is there a new store opening near your house?

If so, I'd love to hear from you. Call or e-mail me. Or you can contact me by reaching Shop Talk's Twitter (http://twitter.com/shoptalkexpress) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/YHR-Shop-Talk/54463033365) pages.

Meanwhile, I'm going to keep thinking of ways to make sure that Shop Talk's coverage better reflects every corner of Central Washington.

Style on a budget

In other news, there are three new clothing shops in downtown Yakima. While they're all pretty different, they all want to offer style on a budget.

Relondes Hill has opened Rolo's Boutique, a women's clothing store at 18 N. Second St. The store's motto, "Fashion with a Passion," reflects Hill's long-time love of fashion and style. He's aiming for those who love the big city styles sold at places such as Nordstrom Rack or Forever 21, by offering a variety of designer pieces, such as premium jeans.

But Hill doesn't want designer to cost a lot -- the shop also sells jeans in the more affordable $40 range. And high school and college students can get a 10 percent discount with ID. The boutique's hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

Julie Marroquin recently opened Trendy Divaz at 106 E. Walnut St. She's offering a variety of women's clothing for work and play. A lot of the clothes come from the Los Angeles area and are priced for those on a budget.

"I'm trying reach people who don't want to spend too much, but still want to have the style," she said. She also has an online site (www.trendydivaz.com) where she's selling the pricier brand-name stuff. The site also has a picture of the shop, which is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

If Mark Ecko or Sean John brands are more your thing, head over to D. Tye Walker's new shop, The Urban Closet. The shop was the former seating area for Wingin' It, Walker's other business at 11 W. Yakima Ave.

When he saw that most of his customers did takeout, he decided to convert the space into the new men's and women's clothing shop. His selling point is that none of his shirts costs more than $18 and none of his bottoms costs more than $35. The Urban Closet is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Can't wait until next Monday for the Reporter's Notebook? Head over to the Shop Talk blog (www.yakimaherald.com/shoptalk) for the latest in restaurant and retail trends. Until next week, happy shopping.

* Mai Hoang's Reporter's Notebook is published each Monday in the Business section. To reach her, call 509-577-7685 or e-mail mhoang@yakimaherald.com.