Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Here’s the Dirt: Hayden Walmart features latest design elements

Walmart assistant manager Phil Hunter walks in the store in Hayden on Wednesday. Opening day is Sept. 15.  (Kathy Plonka)

There’s still no Walmart in Coeur d’Alene, but the retail behemoth is about as close as it can get.

A Walmart supercenter will open Wednesday in Hayden, a couple of blocks north of Coeur d’Alene city limits.

It’s the second Walmart to open in North Idaho this summer. A new store on the west end of Post Falls, near Cabela’s sporting goods, opened Aug. 18.

The 206,000-square-foot Hayden store is at the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 95 and Honeysuckle Avenue. Only one Walmart in Idaho – a Boise store – is larger.

The Hayden store includes a grocery, deli, photo lab, pharmacy and vision center. It also has a Subway restaurant, Cost Cutters hair salon and Potlatch Credit Union located inside.

The store showcases new design elements for Walmart, such as wider aisles, lower shelves and alignment of departments customers shop most frequently.

“The layout of the store is easy to navigate, which will save our customers time as they shop for everyday necessities,” store manager Jeni Roesner said. “By grouping the products that our customers most often purchase, we are making one-stop shopping even easier.”

The store employs 350 people.

Roesner joined the company in 1994 as a cashier at a store in Glendora, Calif. She has been a store manager for nine years.

It will be open around the clock, starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Community and business leaders will join Walmart associates at 7:30 a.m. that day for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

To celebrate the store’s opening, the retailer will host a carnival in its parking lot Sept. 17-19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Also, the Walmart Foundation will donate $5,000 to the Community Action Partnership Food Bank; $4,000 each to Kootenai-Shoshone Area Libraries, Northern Lakes Fire Protection District and the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department; and $2,500 each to the Salvation Army Kroc Community Center and the Idaho Meth Project.

Sweetwater Bakery moves to Post Falls

Sweetwater Bakery’s growth has prompted it to move from Spokane to a larger space in Post Falls.

The bakery, which has been on East Augusta near Gonzaga University, moved to 119 E. Third Ave., two blocks north of Templin’s Resort.

Most of its business is wholesale, but it does have a retail store as well.

It will hold a grand opening at the new location Tuesday with free samples and coffee from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and tours from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Sweetwater Bakery supplies baked goods throughout the Northwest, including at Yellowstone National Park. Baked goods include bagels, muffins, cookies, scones, bars, croissants, Danishes, cinnamon rolls and cupcakes.

Catering trays for parties and meetings are available.

Sweetwater opened in 2002 and has been owned since 2004 by Tom and Sandy Vas Dias. They employ 25.

Hours for the retail store are 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.

Information: (509) 326-0806.

Starch packaging plant opens in Valley

One Earth Starch, which makes biodegradable and compostable packaging products, has opened a factory and warehouse in Spokane Valley.

Located at 3808 N. Sullivan Road, No. 13-D, the plant makes packing peanuts from corn and potato starch. The pellets are dust-free, nontoxic and biodegradable, dissolving in water. One Earth ships two semi-truck loads of product monthly.

The company is a division of Rugosa Trading Inc. One Earth Starch is owned by Len and Marsha Beckett, of Blaine, Wash. John Dill II manages the local plant.

Information: www.oneearthstarch.com or call (509) 893-3939.

Five Guys Burgers opens on South Hill

Spokane’s first Five Guys Burgers store opened Thursday at its South Hill site, 2525 E. 29th.

It’s taking the spot vacated by a Pizza Hut in the retail development near Safeway.

The South Hill restaurant has 3,100 square feet of leased space; it will operate seven days a week.

Spokane’s Five Guys is a franchise run by William Sheffield of Brunswick, Ga. Based in Lorton, Va., the Five Guys operation has more than 550 restaurants in 35 states and expects to add 200 more this year.

Pool World moves to Sprague

Pool World will move its Spokane store to the old Dick’s Suzuki building at 5701 E. Sprague Ave. in the Spokane Valley.

The relocation, expected in January, will close the store at 4808 E. Sprague, and relocate the staff to a 10,800-square-foot building, near the Valley Costco. The new location doubles the space at the previous leased office.

The company has three Spokane stores, plus one in Coeur d’Alene.

Company owner Lyla Henderson paid $590,000 for the building.

Reporter Tom Sowa contributed to this report. Here’s the Dirt is a weekly report on new developments and business openings, closings or movement in the Inland Northwest. E-mail business@spokesman.com or call (509) 459-5528.