Handle on business: The Rock Joint opens

A rock ‘n’ roll theme and sports bar are the emphases of The Rock Joint, a new business at 910 W. Hayden Ave. (west of Highway 95) in Hayden.

Although unpretentious on the outside, the place and its Web site, www.therock joint.com, definitely are lively inside. Rock music certainly is the place’s sound. It has karaoke and open-mike nights, and its band, Afrayed Knot, plays on Friday and Saturday nights. Football, especially the NFL, is the mainstay during game time as the place has 16 flat-screen TVs.

Opening at 11 a.m. daily, The Rock Joint offers lunch and dinner to 12 tables seating 60 people and an outdoor deck on the quiet south side. The menu features an array of appetizers, pizzas, calzones, hot sandwiches, salads, desserts and even milkshakes. They also have take-out and delivery and even rock-themed clothing and gift cards. The lounge offers a complete beverage list.

With 10 employees, hours are 11 a.m. to midnight weekdays and until 2 a.m. weekends. It is nonsmoking. Phone 762-2272.

Fred Meyer adding fuel center

They politely call it a fuel center rather than a gas station.

(How many of us say we’re going to the fuel center?) The Coeur d’Alene Fred Meyer store begins construction on one Monday. It will have five stations with 10 pumps when it opens in mid-October on the east side of the store toward Chili’s restaurant off U.S. Highway 95.

With four employees (and no convenience store), the pumps will be open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily with discounts for using the store’s Reward cards. Customers who spend $100 a month in the store and use their Rewards cards will receive a 10-cent per gallon discount once at the pump. Customers spending $100 in the store in a month using their Rewards’ Mastercard will get a 15-cent per gallon discount.

An 85-year-old company with its headquarters in Portland, Fred Meyer has 127 stores in four Northwest states.

Liquidation World closing here

The lack of revenue is what’s blamed for the closing of 16 Liquidation World stores, including in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, by the end of October. With its headquarters in Calgary, the company’s 100-plus Canadian stores will remain open, and connections will remain active to obtain liquidation items from U.S. companies.

The Coeur d’Alene store has seven employees who will be searching for new jobs. Selling an amazing variety of items (I’ve even found antique furniture there), the local store is at 1310 N. Fourth St.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 to 5 Sundays.

Check www.liquidationworld.com.

Here’s this week’s tidbits

“Checking out The Rock Joint, I drove down Hayden Avenue. Head west to Highway 41 and you still see plenty of open space. Thankfully. The mint crop aroma is amazing.

“Headed east on I-90, you get to the Coeur d’Alene city limits, and parallel-to-each-other signs on each side of the road say 55 and 65 mph limits. Oops.

“It’s too bad with all the reconstruction of Best Avenue in Coeur d’Alene that sidewalks weren’t installed on the north side between Fifth and Seventh streets. Kids heading for the Borah school crosswalk are forced onto busy Best Avenue during winter snows.

“At our garage sale last Saturday, we noticed several “customers” aren’t really customers. They come by to chat; it’s their social outlet. Afterward we brought giant loads of stuff to St. Vinnies and the dump. Nice people at both places.

“I’m searching for my ideal vehicle, which would encompass a small, comfortable, economical, convertible pickup that has front-wheel or four-wheel drive, has air bags and isn’t noisy on the freeway. Any ideas?