Kids At Heart
Products for having fun, for kids and adults who enjoy being kids, are the emphasis of two new stores in Coeur d’Alene.
Escaping reality is the object of Gamer’s Haven & WarDen at 1200 Sherman Ave.
Customizable card games such as Pokemon, Star Trek and Magic the Gathering and all the hand-crafted characters for miniature battles and role-playing are the store’s mainstays.
The miniature battle games include Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy and Mordhiem, all tactical strategy games in which game pieces move by inches on large playing boards. Made of pewter, the alloy rilidium or plastic, the collectible characters are hand-assembled and painted. The WarDen portion of the business offers workshops to work on the pieces.
Other activities include online and offline (hard-drive) gaming on store computers, organized teams and game-playing in the shop and special events. Details are on the store’s Web site, gamershaven@icehouse.net.
Located across the street from the Sherman IGA, Gamer’s is owned by Den Flowers and Bob Kelley. A native of Middleton, Idaho, Flowers, 28, came to North Idaho in 1990. Kelley came here in 1992 from Hudson, Wis., after looking on a map, at age 18, for a small town with green mountains.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Phone 765-0891.
Skateboards in the nonwinter months and snowboards in the winter, accessories for both types of boards, and related clothing are featured at Victory, a boarder-owned-and-operated store at 2506 N. Fourth St. The grand opening is 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday.
Skateboards are from several major companies, including ES, Emerica, Innes, Darkstar and Spitfire. The store is run by members of its competitive skateboard team and owned by Bryan Wood, 22, who came to North Idaho 10 years ago from Bellflower, Calif.
Regular hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 10 to 8 Saturdays and 11 to 5 Sundays. Victory is located between the Napa Auto Parts and Mr. Tux stores. Phone 765-8671.
A stylish building that twice didn’t make it as a restaurant will be restyled as an office building along soon-to-be-rebuilt Northwest Boulevard in Coeur d’Alene.
The 5,400-square-foot space was built about five years ago as Cousins Steakhouse at 1038 Northwest Blvd., between Windermere Realty and First American Title. It later changed to Scotty’s Sports Bar and has been empty nearly two years.
Featuring open-beam ceilings and a fireplace area for a conference room, the property has 53 parking spaces. Renovation should be complete by July.
The building was purchased by Leo Notar and Bill Robinette, both local Realtors.
Notar, who came to North Idaho 15 years ago from Orange County, Calif., also recently bought the highly visible parcel known as the former Wilma Theatre property at Second and Sherman. He plans a multi-story building for the parcel. Robinette came to the Coeur d’Alene area from Spokane.
Construction will be complete in June on the new Grizzly Glass Center east of Highway 95 between Dakota and Miles avenues in Hayden.
Now located at 10664 Government Way, the store offers glass for automobile, residential and commercial needs. About 75 percent of the work is handled by employees in the business’ four mobile service vehicles.
Owner Steve Wright, originally from Snohomish, Wash., came to North Idaho in 1990 after visiting friends in the area. He started the business alone and now has seven employees. He also has a satellite service in Sandpoint.
The new building will be 5,000 square feet, compared with the current space of 3,500, and offers better exposure, more parking and his own ownership, Wright said. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 to 1 Saturdays. Phone 762-3453.
Latte Lane espresso stand opened last week at 510 Best Ave. in Coeur d’Alene.
“We’re first to open (5:30 a.m.) and last to close (7 p.m.),” said morning manager Shannon Sullivan McEvers. The store is owned by Donna and Jim Kinney.
With four employees, Latte Lane offers many coffees and soft drinks. It will be adding German sausages, hot dogs and chili dogs. Phone 666-6086.