View Larger Map Spokane's Viking Tavern closed its doors Tuesday, and owner Barbie Randazzo hasn't said what her long-term plans are. The popular hangout has been a North Spokane establishment since 1994. But as some readers of our daily news story noted, the Viking also…
Recently we took a look at the slow and painful progress Coldwater Creek has made in recovering from a difficult retail-apparel market. One thing we couldn't get, in time for the story, was the change in headcount for the Sandpoint publicly traded company (CWTR is…
Security cameras get us thinking about the creepy Big Brother nature of modern life. No doubt, security cams are a pain. It was odd, then, to see Coca Cola use footage from security cams from around the world for this little ad. Comments?
There's a biotech summit happening in Spokane on Wednesday. The print edition on Tuesday had the main details: Statewide leaders in the biosciences and biotechnology will gather in Spokane on Wednesday at a “leadership summit” hosted by the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association. The event…
Haven't seen enough information about the Jensen Byrd building and its prospects for survival? Look for our indepth story in Tuesday's Spokesman Review business section, covering efforts to keep it from the wrecking ball This past year the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation added the…
Website 99designs recently polled 1,500 small business owners, start-ups, entrepreneurs and design decision-makers on graphic design and its importance to their business. The results make for a decent read. We feel a post is warranted since we also saw recent stories in the WSJ that…
The guys behind hip Spokane media agency Seven2 are branching out. They're diving into what they call an entrerpreneurial experiment, selling photos of dogs and cats. Photos of dogs or cats that attach to car or truck windows. Nick Murto and Tyler Lafferty, the principals…
Spokane native John Boswell's autotuned video "Mister Rogers Remixed" was featured on the Today Show, and is the latest production in his Symphony of Science series. Take a listen. Boswell attended Gonzaga Prep and later studied at Western Washington University. He lives in Bellingham. Three…
PepsiCo will consolidate its Spokane area locations and move into an 80,000-square-feet distribution center at the Central Business Park in Spokane Valley. The move consolidates PepsiCo’s Eastern Washington and North Idaho operations, providing a new hub for about 130 area workers. The Central Business Park…
Not to overdo it, but we should have included an image with yesterday's story and post on Central Food, going into the Cedar Plaza building in the Kendall Yards project just west of downtown Spokane. Here's what it looks like at this point. Construction is…
Kind of big news on the local food business front: Spokane chef David Blaine announced he'll open Central Food, a new restaurant in the first commercial building in the Kendall Yards mixed use development. This is the big project being done by Greenstone Commercial along…
Mountain Comfort Furnishings and Design, based in Coeur d'Alene, will close its doors and sell off its furniture. The press release announcing the closure also noted that the business was chosen as “Best Furniture in North Idaho” by Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living Magazine. So, that…
Stacie Lechot just discovered the web is the new Yellow Pages. About a week after getting a new, improved website for the nonprofit group, North Idaho AIDS Coalition, a caller found her on the web and left a message that he wanted to donate $5,000.…
Red Lion Hotels, the Spokane hospitality company working its way through some investor discontent, held its recent annual meeting at its downtown headquarters. The May 23 meeting included the re-election of board directors. We went back one year to Red Lion's 2011 annual meeting, at…
So you may have heard the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday (May 31) in a 5 to 4 opinion, that the privatization of liquor sales was legal. Read the key opinion at this link. There is of course a dissenting view, which can be…
So the Initiative 1183 attacks can begin. Starting Friday, people who voted for the privatization of liquor sales in Washington can claim they opposed it along. Sure, now they can say, "I knew it would lead to higher prices." On Friday those prices become available.…
Washington's State Liquor Control Board on Wednesday rejected requests by the city of Seattle’s to change rules to allow nightclubs to serve liquor later than the state’s current 2 a.m. cutoff. Board members Sharon Foster and Ruthann Kurose said they were concerned about public safety…
Seven Spokane area firms or groups were winners in the annual Agora Awards completion, honoring business excellence. In a Wednesday morning event hosted by Greater Spokane Inc., the winners in several categories were: Large nonprofit: Greater Spokane County Meals On Wheels. Small nonprofit: Greater Spokane…
Spokane’s Garco Construction has landed a $35.8 million federal contract after challenging an earlier award for the job to an Oklahoma competitor. Garco bid on the project last year to build a large truck and maintenance shop at Joint Base Lewis McChord near Tacoma. Last…
We posted a short item in Sunday's print editions about the $20.4 million new Fairchild Air Force Base fitness center. It replaces the original center, built in the 1940s. That old center is being demolished by Lydig Construction, of Spokane. Lydig was in charge of…
Hats off to Red Lion Hotel's Patrick Shimon, area GM at Spokane's Red Lion Hotel at the Park. On May 24 he agreed to go down the downtown hotel's redesigned pool slide, for photographers. His stunt was meant to echo the same event when Don…
Spokane’s growing Inland Imaging LLC has spun off an IT subsidiary, Nuvodia, with plans to become a nationwide provider of technology integration and services. During a Thursday breakfast hosted by Spokane group Connect Northwest, Nuvodia’s CEO Jon Copeland said the need for reliable, secure technology…
This story, in today's Spokesman-Review, may seem like a little love note to Google. It's not meant to be that. It's more an example of your good ol' basic seek-and-you-may-find the answer if you keep looking. It ran online on Spokesman.com. Here's the short version.…
A noted franchise expert, Ben Litalien, will be on Gonzaga University's campus next week for two lectures on “Franchising for Community Impact.” The two 90-minute presentations will be Thursday, May 31, starting at 7:30 a.m. and then at 9:15 a.m. Both are in the Wolff…
The Occupy Spokane group has started its own "Occupy Spokane Clubhouse" on East Sprague. It's open for business and is looking for volunteers and donated second-hand items. It's renting a storefront at 1808 E. Sprague. The goal is to raise some money for Occupy events…
The Spokesman-Review business team follows economic development in Spokane and the Inland Northwest.
| Dec. 2012 | Nov. 2012 | Oct. 2012 | Sept. 2012 |
| Aug. 2012 | July 2012 | June 2012 | May 2012 |
| April 2012 | March 2012 | Feb. 2012 | Jan. 2012 |
