Coldwater Creek To Add Office In Cda Corporate Headquarters Will Stay In Sandpoint

(From For the Record, October 28, 1999, Idaho edition:) Name wrong: The architectural firm designing a Coldwater Creek call center in Coeur d’Alene is ALSC Architects P.S. of Spokane. The name was incorrectly reported in a Wednesday article. Coldwater Creek officials also wished to clarify that they did not comment on center’s cost.

Coldwater Creek has started building a $5.5 million customer service center on 10 acres at the north end of town, company officials say.

Adding a “permanent presence” to the community, the 60,599-square-foot facility is designed to accommodate more than 400 employees, a company spokesman said.

The 15-year-old Sandpoint-based retailer, which sells and distributes casual clothing and accessories and nature-related gift items, has begun groundwork for the facility west of U.S. Highway 95 between Hanley and Canfield avenues. It is scheduled to be completed next summer.

The company, which includes catalog and Internet sales as well as four full-service stores and 13 outlet stores, owns about 21 acres west of Mineral Drive and Hecla Mining Co. headquarters.

Access to the building and 470 planned parking spaces will be from Hanley Avenue. About half the property, which is primarily wooded, will remain undeveloped.

Rumors that the building would be the first on a campus that eventually would include Coldwater’s corporate headquarters, now in Sandpoint, are untrue, said David Gunter, director of communications and investment relations.

“The idea that the design is to create a campus for Coldwater Creek is incorrect,” Gunter said. “The corporate office and administration will remain in Sandpoint.”

The new building, with major glass work to take advantage of the rural setting, initially will house employees from the Coeur d’Alene call center, now located in a leased four-level building on Ironwood Drive.

The call center has about 300 employees and will grow to about 425 to accommodate holiday orders, Gunter said.

“This will give us a permanent, high-quality site to take advantage of the Coeur d’Alene employment base,” Gunter said. “In the summer, we’ll have 250 to 300 employees in the move, and we’ll peak up to 450 seasonal employees.”

The company has about 1,500 employees, primarily at the call and distribution centers in Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint and Parkersburg, W. Va. The distribution center in Sandpoint will swell from 554 employees now to about 600 for the holiday orders.

First-line retail stores will open in Seattle and Kansas City next month, joining those in Sandpoint and Jackson Hole, Wyo. The 13,000-square-foot Seattle store will open Nov. 12 in the former Nordstrom building at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street downtown.

The nearest retail outlet stores are in Boise and Pasco, with others in 11 outlet malls in 10 states. Some outlet mall stores will probably close as Internet sales grow, Gunter said, but additional first-line stores are planned.

Coldwater Creek’s Internet site, coldwatercreek.com, advertises several job openings.

The contractor for the new Coeur d’Alene building is Lydig Construction of Spokane, and the architectural firm is Adkinson, Leigh, Sims and Conrad of Spokane.