Homestead Birkenstock leaves downtown
After a 4 ½-year run in downtown Spokane, Homestead Birkenstock closed its doors last month, with owners choosing instead to focus on their NorthTown and Spokane Valley Mall locations.
“We loved the corner, it’s an ideal spot, but the foot traffic just didn’t come together for us,” said Jim King, who owns the region’s stores with partner George Stewart. The NorthTown store has been open for 15 years and the Valley store for 10, King said.
The partners also ran the Tully’s coffee shop in that space, which King said will remain open until a new tenant is found for the building. Homestead Birkenstock, which sells shoes, jewelry and other accessories, occupied 3,800 square feet on two levels on the northwest corner of Wall and Main.
Building owner Jack Saad said he is negotiating with a couple of potential tenants interested in the space, which also includes a full basement for storage and use of a dumbwaiter to shuttle merchandise to upper floors. The three-story building was constructed in 1964.
Liberty-Lake ISR named company of the year
ISR Inc. was named company of the year at a technology awards ceremony Wednesday evening.
Technet, a regional group that promotes technology and business development, announced the winners of its ninth-annual Catalyst awards in the event held at the Northern Quest Casino.
Liberty Lake-based ISR has been much in the news lately. Earlier this week the company landed on Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest-growing private companies, with three-year growth of 440 percent; it also announced recently that it needs more space to accommodate the growth of a new commercial division, which is expected to employ 30 by the end of the year. ISR employs 200 people in Liberty Lake and 250 companywide. The company developed SprayCool, a patented technology that uses an enclosed system to dissipate heat and ensure the reliability of high-end, high-temperature electronics.
The Catalyst company-of-the-year award recognizes an organization that has used innovation or technology to benefit the region.
Other winners announced Wednesday included:
• Organization of the year — Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program;
• Ken Grunzweig Innovator of the Year — LeRoy Nosbaum, CEO of Itron Inc.;
• Mentor of the year — Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Northwest.
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