Nils Rosdahl

Well, this is it – my last work for The Spokesman-Review. Although the exact date isn’t available, this business column first was published in 1985, the same year I became the journalism instructor at North Idaho College. So, if I scribble a little math (not often easy for a words person), that’s 25 years. Take that times about 50 columns a year for about 1,200 total. Since each column contains four-plus items, and I’ve written about nearly 5,000 businesses.

Oh. How does a person write something for the day after Christmas without it being anti-climactic? To avoid that, I’ll try to keep this dull today. However, Star Belcher won’t. She’ll used finely sharpened, high-tech tools for Star’s Pet Grooming opening this week in Unit H of Northgate Mall at 3650 Government Way.

A five-story addition and renovations to the existing structure of Benewah Community Hospital will bring major changes to the St. Maries area. The addition to the hospital at 229 S. Seventh St. will include departments of medical surgery, a family birth center, rural health clinic, a specialty clinic, physical therapy, administration and billing, the kitchen and cafe and the information technology department. Renovations will be to the emergency department, pharmacy, admitting and medical records, with the whole project about 75,000 square feet. New equipment will aid medical surgery, radiology, physical therapy, and the kitchen and waiting area. More parking spaces also will be added.

The Ponderay area just north of Sandpoint this spring will become the home of Big R’s largest store. With the “R” standing for “ranch,” Big R has six stores in Montana and Washington. The 86,000-square-foot former Black Sheep Warehouse and original Kmart store at 477181 U.S. 95 will be Big R’s first store in Idaho. “This is a substantial project for our company,” said Wayne Wike, owner of Big R stores. “We are relying on the teamwork of dozens of people working very hard to stay on schedule for our anticipated opening.”

The commercial and office space in the Parkside condominium complex at Front Avenue and Sixth Street in Coeur d’Alene is 100 percent leased. Atchley Financial Group moved onto the second floor earlier this fall (more on that later) and The Grille From Ipanema should open New Year’s Eve. The restaurant’s menu will be Brazilian barbecue. The tropical décor will match the theme from its name, which is a beach near Rio de Janeiro. With views of Lake Coeur d’Alene and seating for 115 customers inside and 75 on the outdoor plaza, the food will include that of an all-you-can-eat steakhouse with seafood, a hotplate bar, a salad bar, grilled pineapple and Brazilian beverages. The servers will slice portions of meat from skewers onto the plates. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; 10 p.m. on weekends. Nearby is a 200-seat event center for private parties. Other options will be catering, private room service in the complex and valet parking.

We’ve gotten some clues for interesting big business news for the near future, but they aren’t absolutely confirmed – so we’ll just hint at them within the tidbits down below. Meanwhile Keller Williams Realty Coeur d’Alene Market Center has moved, with about 100 associates, into a 6,600-square-foot location at 1450 Northwest Blvd.

The name of the place is Tequila Joe’s, and it has plenty of standard Mexican foods and beverages. However, it also has pastas, burgers, steaks, sizzling skillet-plates, lunch specials, a kids’ menu and more. It opened in late October at 9510 Government Way (on the east side of the street almost to Hayden Avenue) in the building that housed Toro Viejo before it moved elsewhere in Hayden. In two large, nicely decorated rooms, the restaurant seats 80 customers in booths and at tables and a counter. It also has a full bar and a 3 to 6 p.m. happy hour daily.

Some long empty, weedy acreage north of Dairy Queen in Coeur d’Alene will become a women’s and children’s shelter and recovery center through the Union Gospel Mission. The Spokane-based group will build a 26,500-square-foot facility on 2.7 acres with an official address of 196 E. Haycraft Ave. The announcement came last week at a kickoff dinner at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Construction should start this spring or summer with completion in late 2011 or early 2012.

With more room inside, more parking outside and a central location, the Idaho Department of Labor this past week opened its new facility at 600 N. Thornton Ave., north of Interstate 90 and west of Highway 41 in Post Falls. The staff of 48 employees will celebrate its open house with the public at 1 p.m. Tuesday with tours, refreshments and a welcome from Roger Madsen, Idaho labor director.

You have to admire the way Jimmy John’s started. A 19-year-old lad with two first names, Jimmy John Liautaud, decided to create the world’s greatest gourmet sandwich in 1983 in Champaign, Ill. He checked out cookbooks from a library, baked “perfect” bread, tested four sandwiches on family and friends, took to the streets with armfuls of free sandwiches, rented a tiny shop and delivered his creations to University of Illinois students.

A major change involving 13 employees, about 100 students, hundreds of customers and two key Coeur d’Alene locations will occur in early January. The Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy will move from 317 Coeur d’Alene Ave. to 410 Neider Ave. The new facility (the old Tidyman’s grocery store) will allow the school to expand from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet and up to 125 students and additional instructors.

The business news this week is big news – maybe not so big as far as billions of dollars and hundreds of employees, but more so in the physical size of these places. Construction should begin early in the year on Love’s Travel Center on 10 acres bordered by Pleasantview Road, Expo Parkway and the westbound onramp to Interstate 90.

Hoping to fittingly open on Columbus Day, Oct. 12, since Christopher Columbus was an Italian, Lucca’s Restaurant will be at 1801 E. Sherman Ave. The 44-seat location most recently was My Place Restaurant. The lunch menu will include appetizers, soups, sandwiches and desserts, with main items ranging from $6-$9. The dinner menu will expand to include pastas, steaks, chops and fish, all with an Italian flair. Beverages will include beer and wine.

The tavern at 816 Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene, changed more than its name last week. The former Office Tavern is now Bo-Jack’s Pub and Grille. It also has new ownership, a new menu and a no-smoking policy. Bo-Jack’s features a more-gourmet menu, with several appetizers, sandwiches, specialty burgers and pizzas along with extensive beer and wine selections. With a clean classic-car décor, it seats up to 75 customers at the bar and tables, including an area at the back with a pool table and darts. A flat-screen sports TV is near the front.

The Wine Cellar Restaurant at 313 Sherman Ave. is back under local ownership. Tom and Patricia Power, longtime loyal customers and members of the Wine Club, bought the business and the building this past week. They’re keeping the management and employees and will gradually expand the wine list and introduce new menu items.

After 42 years in the restaurant business, including nearly 23 in Coeur d’Alene, Larry and Pauline Anderson have retired. The pair recently sold Franklin’s Hoagies at 501 N. Fourth St. New owners Evelyn Bevacqua and Lynn Alexander took over this past week and offer basically the same menu with standard breakfast fare, hoagies and soups for lunch and homemade desserts. The place is open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, although those hours and days may be extended. With décor including classic autos, Franklin’s Hoagies seats about 60 customers at tables, booths, the counter and outdoors.

A wide variety of items at as little as half the retail prices will be available at Coeur d’Alene Discount when it opens in mid-September at 1515 Northwest Blvd. The attractive 5,500-square-foot store with a railed balcony housed Von Nash Interiors before it moved to Fourth Street and originally was the home of a Budweiser distributorship.

Home-style made-from-scratch Idaho favorites are the promise of the Sherman Junction Restaurant. This all-meal, 99-customer capacity place will open soon at 819 E. Sherman Ave. The building started as a Sambo’s Restaurant in 1974 and was several other eateries, most known for being the Rustler’s Roost before it moved to Hayden.

A “soft” 1920s decor sets the tone for the new Fedora (men’s hat of the era) Pub and Grille at 1726 W. Kathleen Ave. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, the Fedora displays glass panels of its namesake and about 60 fascinating historical photos of North Idaho.

Greek Street Pizza and More, a new option in ethnic fast foods for the Ironwood Square complex in Coeur d’Alene, should open next week. Located in the former 1,400-square-foot space that formerly housed Papa John’s Pizza (next to Quizno’s on the west side of the shopping center), Greek Street’s menu will include gourmet pizza, gyros, spanakopita (a spinach pie), pizzaloni (a pizza-cannelloni combination), daily specials, desserts (including baklava) and soft drinks.

If all goes as planned, Kootenai Cafe will open this week at 206 N. Fourth St. in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The renovated place was formerly the Fourth Street Pantry. Manager Michael Hanes primarily will offer the same full breakfast and lunch menu as the Pantry, along with specials including the Monte Cristo and the deli-style Reuben sandwiches. The major difference is that Kootenai Cafe will not be open 24 hours; instead, opening at 5 a.m. and closing mid-afternoon.