Story Woods features one-of-a-kind items

This Coeur d’Alene place has a story. Actually, it offers many interesting stories.

Story Woods Gallery, in the 2,600 square feet that formerly housed The Zoo in The Plaza Shoppes on Sherman Avenue, sells one-of-a-kind wood products that have stories.

You might find a table made from centuries-old trees submerged in the Columbia River or a door made from lumber from the old Farragut Naval Base on Lake Pend Oreille.

You get not only a special handmade item but also a parchment-style storybook, bound by wooden covers, about the item’s history.

The inventory includes furniture, molding and trim, flooring and picture frames. The store also offers unique art in a variety of mediums – paintings, sculpture and pottery by Northwest as well as nationally known artists.

Owners David Pemberton and Robin Lindberg have their own special story.

Growing up only a mile and a half apart but not knowing each other in Concord, Calif., they met in a California airport while waiting for a flight to visit relatives in North Idaho.

Then they discovered they each had a knack for combining their passions for history and old wood into special products. Later, they combined their mutual interests into marriage.

Story Woods Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Phone 664-5731 or check out www.storywoods.com.

Great Clips to Sportsman’s Plaza

The east end of Sportsman’s Plaza between Costco and Safeway at Government Way and Neider Avenue is getting its final occupant – Great Clips.

The all-services, for-all-ages hair salon will open in a 1,200-square-foot space Sept. 15.

Also offering hair-care products, Great Clips opened its first store in 1982 and now has 2,730 outlets in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters is in Minneapolis.

The new store will be the 15th in the Inland Northwest for new owner Peter Aronson of Portland. Manager Kirk Goodin will have 10 to 12 employees.

Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Great Clips also has shops on Canfield Avenue near Target and in Post Falls near Wal-Mart.

Former Realtors’ roost ready for tenants

The 5,500-square-foot, three-level building that had been the home of the Coeur d’Alene Association of Realtors has been renovated and is ready for tenants at 421 Lakeside Ave. in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

With nine parking spaces (and others available nearby), the building could be divided into 14 offices or could hold just one company, according to Jan Carr, who owns the place with her husband, Rick. The building also has a full kitchen.

Phone: 818-0188.

This week’s tidbits

“You can’t find much better relaxed entertainment or more fascinating ideas than at the houses being displayed in the Parade of Homes ending this weekend in Kootenai County.

For $5, you can explore about 15 homes to see what area architects, builders, landscapers and decorators have to offer.

“After 40 years, Candy O’Brien is planning to retire from her women’s special-occasions clothing boutique in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

The 2,700-square-foot space is available at the entry to The Plaza Shoppes.

“The Veterans Association is looking for a huge single-level building for a medical center in Kootenai County. I wonder if it has considered the nearly empty Outlet Mall. I thought that also would be a good place to house vocational programs of North Idaho College.

“Don’t forget that the North Idaho Fair ends this weekend.