Ritchie’s Cafe coming to former Mel’s Bakery
Ritchie’s Cafe is opening in the old Mel’s Bakery and Coffee Shop, at 15112 E. Sprague Ave.
Workers have laid new flooring, painted and updated the charming shop, which gained notoriety for more than its cookies when the previous owner was arrested on charges of warehousing a marijuana-growing operation in the basement.
New management is committed to establishing a friendly, neighborhood restaurant in the site. Terry Hastings has 30 years experience cooking and managing at area restaurants and will help set up the business, which is owned by Richard Patterson, a security expert from California.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve seen a lot of excitement from the locals so far. They’ve stopped and looked through the windows, and I’ve chatted with them.”
Hastings said the restaurant will cater to breakfast and lunch crowds.
Ritchie’s seats 35 to 40 people and will initially be open from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will tentatively open in early July.
Furniture store expanding
The owners of Furniture Specialist and Bedroom Specialist are juggling a three-fold expansion project that will nearly double the size of showrooms at both stores.
The company is expanding its new Furniture Specialist store, remodeling and expanding Bedroom Specialist and building a new warehouse behind Bedroom Specialist.
“It’s going to be huge. We’re going from a total of 6,800 square feet of showroom to 10,800 square feet of showroom,” said Ken Wold, who owns the business with his wife, Sharon.
Work will begin on the new warehouse within two weeks. Wold anticipates that work taking two months and then work will begin on Furniture Specialist. When that’s completed, Bedroom Specialist will be renovated. Wold says the final project should be completed by October.
When the Wolds opened Bedroom Specialist in 1996, they had 2,800 square feet of showroom and a 2,000 square-foot warehouse, at 6515 E. Sprague Ave. In January of this year, the couple opened Furniture Specialist, at 6511 E. Sprague Ave. in 4,000 square feet of space that was previously occupied by Sound Mart.
Open house to offer seminars on repairing trucks and trailers
Six Robblees’ Inc. is celebrating its new 20,000-square-foot facility with a grand opening today. The company purchased Interstate Parts & Equipment on East Trent and consolidated it with the old Six Robblees’ Inc. store into the building, which opened in December.
The company sells a selection of lights, jacks, hitches, wheels and other parts and equipment for trucks and trailers.
“We are the Sears of trucks and trailer parts,” manager Neil Hendricks said.
The open house runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the new store, 909 N. Fancher Road, and features vendors giving presentations on how to repair trucks and trailers. For information, call 535-8862.
New shop offers radiators, services
Advanced Radiator Service is opening at 17901 E. Appleway Blvd. in the next two weeks and will offer repairs and a selection of new radiators.
Robert Bird of Birds Automotive LLC Auto Sales owns the store and will operate the 4,000-square-foot shop with his son, Randy Bird, who has 20 years of experience repairing radiators. Bird has expertise repairing auto, truck and industrial radiators.
Advanced Radiator Service will operate Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store also will be open on Saturdays, but no specific hours have been set. For more information, call 922-9993.
Office Depot hosts seminar
Office Depot is sponsoring a free advertising clinic on June 25.
The clinic runs from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Office Depot at Sprague and Evergreen and offers a panel discussion about building an advertising program to increase success and promote events.
The event features Bob Myklebust, advertising manager for The Spokesman-Review’s Valley office, Gary Roberto, president of Spokane Valley Online and Vince Bozzi, editor and publisher of Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living Magazine.
To reserve a seat, call 891-8770, ext. 113.