Spokane7
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May 28, 2010 in Business
Building permits list Apple Inc. as tenant
Trend-setting retailer Apple Inc. is listed as the tenant on Spokane building permits that indicate the company will move into the space vacated by Eddie Bauer in downtown Spokane.
Contractors filed permits to remodel the site at 710 W. Main. The building permits list the location as River Park Square. Cowles Co., which owns The Spokesman-Review, also owns River Park Square.
The permits do not list a store opening date.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has been advertising for retail workers on job site Monster.com, but Apple has refused to say whether or when it would open a store in Spokane.
Apple’s popular computer and entertainment products, such as the iPhone and iPod, have turned it into a coveted retailer. Spokane retailers have said landing an Apple store in Spokane would be a coup.
The company – which on Wednesday overtook Microsoft as the largest technology company in the world by market capitalization – selects locations for stores based on demographics including disposable income and concentration of college students.
Apple has more than 200 stores worldwide and five in Washington, all on the West Side. Idaho has none.
The city also lists an approved interior remodeling permit for work estimated at $400,000. The company in charge of remodeling is Dickinson Cameron Construction of Carlsbad, Calif.
Stephen Pohl, River Park Square manager, would not comment on Apple’s plans. He said mall officials are talking with “a number of potential candidates” for that location.
Garco awarded $35.8 million Joint Base Lewis-McChord contract 
FiveMileMom on May 30 at 10:34 p.m.
Having an Apple Store in downtown Spokane would only add to the revitalization of the core shopping district. I occasionally shop downtown, mostly because I rarely shop for anything unnecessary anymore, but I did just order an Apple laptop via the Internet that I would have much rather bought in their store. Best Buy tries hard to put a hands-on Apple experience out there for customers—to their credit—but it’s not the same special experience as browsing in an Apple Store. There are plenty of Apple customers in Spokane and that customer base is expanding here just as in the rest of the nation (and world, really). Spokane is only a cow town to those who want to see it that way. I see it as a thriving, if not slow-paced, small city with friendly people and plenty of culture, shopping and recreation for those motivated to partake. I, for one, am glad Apple decided to recognize the potential market that Spokane represents. Now if we could just get Trader Joe’s to open their collective corporate eyes….