North Idaho Sees New Beginnings

Combining coffee products with the city name most associated with the country’s coffee surge, the Little Seattle Coffee Bar will open this Saturday in Coeur d’Alene.

With a decor, sounds and smells that will bring a taste of the Emerald City to North Idaho, the coffee and dessert shop will be at 2310 N. Fourth St. It will occupy the 1,800-square-foot building that formerly was Little Caesar’s Pizza. The arts of Seattle, through murals, photos, paintings and music, will combine with coffees and teas to reflect Seattle.

Various hot and cold coffee products will be offered, with the coffees primarily supplied through Thomas Hammer Coffees of Spokane. Pike Place Market tea and chai teas will be featured. Numerous desserts, from cheesecakes to a variety of baked goods, will come from local outlets.

Eight employees will serve 50 customers at tables. Eventually, live music will supplement recorded music. Owner Gerald May, an Atlanta native, came to Coeur d’Alene from Denver in 1996.

Hours will be 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 6 to 10 Sundays.

The Fruit Basket is overflowing.

Henry Acosta, now 91, started the produce sales company in an empty outdoor lot in Hayden several years ago. The business grew beyond his reach, so he sold it last winter to Makai Laititi, who moved it to his building at 80 E. Wilbur Ave., behind the former Furniture Liquidator building at Government Way and Wilbur.

The Fruit Basket has flourished there. Its 3,600 square feet spill through its warehouse doors with colorful canopies and bins with pyramids of produce and fruit.

Now Laititi, who came from Western Samoa to work in the lumber industry with Potlatch in Lewiston 17 years ago, hopes to expand into the 7,200-square-foot Furniture Liquidators building. He said he will move when he finds a tenant for his current space. The new space will include room for tenants such as an espresso shop or deli.

Serving as a one-stop shop, the store includes dairy products and local specialties such as fresh eggs, pickles, honey and pancake mix. The produce comes from distributors in Spokane, Seattle and Oregon, and Laititi features products from local growers. He hopes to add bulk items this fall.

With wife Vicki and family as part of his six employees, Fruit Basket hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Meanwhile, Henry Acosta couldn’t leave the business. He’s started another Fruit Basket - in Fruitland, Idaho, of course.

A new showroom, plenty of space and a more visible location are the prime reasons for Idaho Lights to open in its new spaces at 6235 Sunshine St. (beside Fred’s Appliance), off Highway 95 next week.

The facility will feature an expanded lampshade department and showcase the latest products in low-voltage, track and recessed lighting. Idaho Lights, formerly Goodman’s Lighting and Fan, is leaving 3,200 square feet at 3650 N. Government Way.

Business owners are Dianne and Gene Ansbaugh and her sister and her husband, Darlene and Lew Smith. They have four employees. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Phone 765-5945.

Tidbits

Tango Concierge International Services is a new business that provides a variety of services for travelers.

Services include preparing a home for a family’s arrival and helping close and maintain the home while residents are away. Arrangements, information and gift selections are provided to travelers. Tango owners are Glynda Brown at 457-8613 and Taylor Ward at 676-1636.

Met Life Auto & Home is a new property and casualty insurance company owned by Sandy Carlson at 8191 N. Lochhaven Drive in Hayden. The emphasis is on auto, home, boat and snowmobiles. Carlson came to North Idaho from California in 1991.