Room To Grow
Advantages of additional space, parking, visibility and owning rather than leasing will result in NAPA Auto Parts moving to the former Bendigo building at W. 75 Hayden Ave. in Hayden.
The business will expand from 5,000 to 8,800 square feet and add help to its existing eight employees.
The Hayden and Coeur d’Alene NAPA stores are owned by Brian Odenthal, whose father, Al, started the Coeur d’Alene outlet in 1951.
The 20-year-old Hayden store has been at its 9426 Government Way location for five years.
The new facility is owned by Eric Waide, general manager of the Hayden store. He hopes to complete the move by April 1.
Success has prompted expansion of Fairway Floor & Design Center, Highway 41 and 16th Avenue in Post Falls.
A new showroom allowed the previous showroom to become a storeroom as the business grew from 7,200 to 10,800 square feet at the intersection’s northeast corner.
The company sells, installs and services various types of floor coverings (carpet, vinyl, wood and laminate) and window coverings. The Abbey Carpet group is one major brand name in the store.
Originally from Long Island, N.Y., owner Art Trenkle came to North Idaho from California in 1976 to take advantage of outdoor activities. He started the business on Fourth Street in Coeur d’Alene and now has eight employees. Phone 777-7711.
The Silver Valley may get a new religiously affiliated FM radio station, pending decision in May by the Federal Communications Commission.
Calvary Baptist Church of Twin Falls has applied for ownership of KQWK, which would operate at 97.5-FM at 50,000 watts from a broadcast facility in Wallace.
Rights to the station are owned by Dale Lanske of Middleton, Wis., who originally planned to start his own station in Wallace. But Lanske now seeks FCC approval to transfer ownership rights to the Baptist Church.
Target date for starting the new station is this fall. A copy of the FCC application is available for viewing in the Wallace Public Library.
Idaho Ruby’s Bistro will reopen Monday under the new ownership of Mike Green. The cafe is at 206 N. Fourth in Coeur d’Alene.
The menu will remain essentially as it was under former owner Curtis Ellis. Idaho Ruby’s features soups, sandwiches, hamburgers (including the three-quarter-pound Big Bubba), breakfasts and daily specials, including teriyaki chicken and bread-bowl chili.
The restaurant has four employees, seating for 45 customers and offers downtown delivery, Green said. The former truck driver, in North Idaho more than 30 years, had been a cook in Portland.
Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Phone or fax orders to 664-8522.
Moving to a facility with more room and closer to hockey activity, Mully’s Hockey Hut is now in Suite 5 at W. 5900 Seltice Way in Post Falls. The business sells and services hockey products.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, owner Brian Mullen came to North Idaho in 1995 from Castlegar, British Columbia. He started selling and sharpening used skates. He now has an employee and is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 9 to 6 Saturdays and 9 to 4 Sundays. Mullen also sponsors two recreational league hockey teams. Phone 457-9165.