Alison Boggs

The man behind Huckleberry's is Norm Carpenter. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

1. Catalyst for change. The new Spokane Valley Mall at I-90 and Sullivan, expected to open in August, is driving rapid retail growth along Sullivan. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. The Spokane Valley Mall, which is scheduled to open in August, is serving as a catalyst for development of property east and west of the mall site off of Sullivan. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Retailers hope to capitalize on heavy traffic on Sullivan. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Becky Rebmann and her partner Linda Fossi are adding regular groceries to the product mix at their downtown store and cutting back on organic products because of competition from a larger rival. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

1. Pampering mom. A day overdue with her first child, Kim Adkins receives the "Queen's Treatment" pedicure at Nails With Pzazz. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. Cathy Shoup applies the finishing coat to Kim Adkins' painted toenails.

April home sales rebounded after a dismal March, signaling a possible upswing in the market. Though the number of home sales closed in April was the largest this year, it was behind last year's pace.

The historic downtown building which has housed the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce since the early 1930s has been sold. The Spokane Club announced Friday that it plans to buy its next door neighbor's building as the chamber prepares to move. Both organizations are on West Riverside near the intersection with Monroe.

Agora Award winner Allan Gibford works the phones as a telemarketer for Premier Marketing, which received an Agora Award Thursday for entrepreneurial spirit. Awards also were presented to four other businesses. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review

A Spokane real estate company is transferring management of almost all of its properties to a former competitor. R.W. Robideaux and Co., which has been in business for more than 10 years, will transfer its entire property management portfolio to Goodale and Barbieri Group of Cos.

The owner of a Spokane discount movie house plans to open another four times bigger in Hayden. Don Clifton, who has owned the Garland Dollar Theater at Garland and Monroe since 1987, will open the Coeur d'Alene Discount Cinema in the Prairie Shopping Center on Aug. 1. "With four screens, it'll give us a lot more variety of things to play," said Clifton, adding that he hoped to play some classic movies and art films in addition to the usual array of Hollywood shows.

Two downtown Spokane skywalks will be closed for the next two years to make way for the redevelopment of River Park Square. Skywalks connecting the downtown shopping center to the Spokane Public Library and to Burlington Coat Factory will close on the evening of May 11. The skywalks will reopen when the $100 million redevelopment of River Park Square is complete in the spring of 1999.

Downtown Spokane already has assets that can make it an exciting place to be. They just need to be connected. That's what Margaret Mullen, executive director of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, said Tuesday at the Spokane Club, where about 75 people gathered for a presentation of the Downtown Spokane Partnership's strategic plan. "You have more green space and a lot more retail (than downtown Phoenix)," Mullen said. "It'll be real easy to take you where you need to go."

Eddie Bauer is returning to downtown Spokane. Developers of the embattled River Park Square project scored a coup Monday when they announced that Eddie Bauer Inc. signed a lease promising to build a full-line store in the downtown shopping center.

1. Christine Greene of Kimmel Athletic Supply displays Lisa Fernandez and Dot Richardson bats, as ABL T-shirt and a woman's basketball and baseball glove. Manufacturers are rushing new products for women to market. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Among the many new products designed specifically for women athletes is this Sheryl Swoopes shoe, named after the Olylmpic basketball star. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Home improvement giant Home Depot is considering a North Spokane site for a second Eastern Washington store - at the site of Country Homes Building Supply near the North Division Y. A meeting has been scheduled May 2 to take public comment and determine what traffic study should be undertaken, said Lou Dobberstein, traffic engineering assistant for the city of Spokane.

A Puget Sound development company bought an aging Spokane shopping center last week, breathing new life into on-again-off-again plans for revitalization. P2J2 Associates paid California-based Century Properties Fund XI $6.6 million for the 36-year-old Shadle Center. The 281,691-square-foot shopping center is located on the south side of Wellesley, between Belt and Alberta.

Post Falls police officer Taj Wilkerson uses a laptop computer in his car. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Pushing the envelopes 1. Chris Hrubesky, who works for an accounting firm in Wallace, works his way through a stack of extension forms for clients. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. A line forms outside the Internal Revenue Service office in the Spokane federal building Monday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Eagle Hardware and Garden Inc., a major player in the discount home improvement business, has honed in on a Coeur d'Alene site. City officials are meeting with Eagle representatives today to discuss the site on the northwest corner of Appleway and Julia Avenue.

A contentious lawsuit that could help decide the future of downtown Spokane had its day in court Wednesday, but there was no immediate resolution. Lawyers representing River Park Square and the city of Spokane asked Superior Court Judge Kathleen O'Connor to dismiss the case, saying the issues already were resolved in a December state Supreme Court case.

The owner of NorthTown Mall paid almost the entire cost of a referendum seeking a public vote on the city of Spokane's involvement in the River Park Square project. Seattle-based Sabey Corp. donated $9,000 to Priorities First, a Spokane political action committee pushing the referendum, state Public Disclosure Commission reports show.

Hollywood refugees 1. Pat and Debi Tagliaferro use a mobile shop truck in their work as art directors and production designers on Hollywood films ranging from "Runaway Train" to "Benny and Joon." Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. The Bayou Brewing Co., a new Spokane dining spot, was designed by Pat Tagliaferro. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

March didn't help Spokane County home sales to rebound from the decline it's been experiencing compared to last year. Home sales dropped 10 percent during the first quarter of 1997 as compared to the first three months of 1996. Last year, 871 sales had closed by March. This year, that figure fell to 778, according to the Spokane Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

The world's largest trail region just grew. The Spokane Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and Silver Country, an organization marketing the 1,000 miles of recreational trails stretching from North Idaho to Western Montana, recently announced a strategic alliance. "If we can pool our resources, we're going to generate a lot more business," said Hartley Kruger, president of Spokane's CVB.