Ernst Spares Cda Store, But New Challengers Take Aim At Local Market
The Coeur d’Alene Ernst store remains open amid the chain’s bankruptcy, but big discounters like Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart are doing what they can to be pallbearers at the store’s funeral.
Fred Meyer grabbed a handle this week in Coeur d’Alene. The Portland-based company obtained a building permit for a $5.5 million, 155,497-square-foot, one-stop-for-everything store south of Parker Toyota in the southwest corner of Highway 95 and Kathleen Avenue.
The plan filed with the city shows the building will rest east-west and face a large parking lot to the north, with other lots on the east and west. Access will be primarily off Kathleen with a road west of the Toyota complex.
Bosanko and Howard also will provide access to the store.
The store should open by next summer and employ about 230 people. Fred Meyer operates 162 stores throughout the West.
This year’s Parade of Homes by the North Idaho Building Contractors Association continues through Sunday in Coeur d’Alene.
The five houses are featured in the Best Hill Meadows neighborhood off Best Avenue just east of 15th Street. The houses range from 1,750 to 3,100 square feet in size and from $178,000 to $249,000 in cost.
NIBCA members voted for their favorites in a variety of categories, and the viewers are voting for the Peoples’ Choice.
Here are my comments:
Overall, the houses are more livable than those in recent home shows. They’re still out of reach for most buyers, but maybe the builders are aiming for “above average” buyers. Subcontractors and designers may pick up some business. And viewers can get some great ideas.
The 3,100-square-foot Eastview by Mountain Lakes Development won most of the prizes from NIBCA members. I’d agree for the most part, as this house has the dollars poured into it. The problem is cost. Special touches include the hand-painted wall designs, although overdone, and the indirect lighting. I don’t like the master bedroom being so separated from the others. The Eastview has the show’s best curb appeal.
Great detail and thought have been put into the 2,550-square-foot Parkview by Messina Construction. But the open floor plan is too informal from living room to kitchen, and the dining room is tucked away in a windowless nook. The master bedroom features a fireplace separating the bedroom and tub, but the closet is too much into the bathroom. The exterior’s manufactured rocks look just that.
Craig Freeman Construction’s Newport wins my vote for best house. The 2,400-square-foot home features fine finishing work in the paneling, floors and ceilings. I also liked the master bedroom, but the closet is barren. The wrap-around porch and side-entry garage are nice, but the front of the place is plain and the nautical theme inside is overdone.
The open floor plan is successful in the 2,450-square-foot Sierra by Golden Oak Homes. The highlight is a stone fireplace separating the living room and kitchen. I like the brightly tiled kitchen and tiered, textured plaster work on the ceilings. The dining room features a beamed ceiling, but, sadly, the room looks right at the toilet through the open bathroom door.
Also by Golden Oak Homes, the 1,750-square-foot Stratford is the show’s least expensive house. I like this house. It has a homey but bright, open touch with vaulted ceilings and a handy kitchen offering a large pantry. The master bedroom is pleasant but looks like an afterthought in how separated it is from the rest of the house.
The Parade of Homes is definitely worth the $5 and $4 admission. It’s nice that the exteriors aren’t dominated by garage doors for a change. It’s too bad architects can’t learn to put the utility room in the bedroom wing where it is most needed.
Speaking of homes, 20 houses for seniors are featured in Northside Manor Homes that opened this month at 3084 Howard St., Coeur d’Alene. Leases range from $550 to $675 for the two-bedroom manufactured homes.
Developers Bill and Ailene Thompson, and their son Steve, his wife Debbie and their seven children came to North Idaho from Medford, Ore. The houses offer finished kitchens, natural gas, storage areas and two covered parking spaces.
Hats off to Safeway, for great landscaping at its new Coeur d’Alene store. It’s nice to see every inch doesn’t need to be a parking space. It’d be great if the planned Albertson’s would retain a few of the grand trees on the property at Prairie and Government Way.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review