West Plains movie house in works
Work has begun on a $6 million movie complex on Highway 2 near Airway Heights that will include two state-of-the art 3-D projectors.
The 33,000-square-foot theater will have 10 screens and is being developed by Dick Vandervert, Lowell McKee and Duane Brelsford. The three also developed the 14-screen Village Centre Theatres at Wandermere in north Spokane.
Tim Stulc, a vice president at Vandervert Construction, said crews are clearing the ground and doing initial site work. He said the theaters will open this fall.
The new complex will have theaters ranging from 125 to 225 seats, he said.
For now the plans include two 3-D screens at the West Plains theaters, said Rob Schultz, a California theater consultant who is helping plan the screens.
Currently there are two 3-D screens in Spokane; the Regal Cinema NorthTown Theaters uses a technology developed by RealD. The Wandermere theaters use one 3-D screen with a system developed by Dolby Digital Cinema.
The West Plains theaters will likely also use Dolby technology, Schultz said.
Stulc said the new theaters will hire about four full-time and 30 part-time employees.
Plato’s Closet adding Valley store
Franchise teen-chic retailer Plato’s Closet will add a second store in the Spokane Valley, opening by late June.
The clothing retailer buys used teen garments and resells them.
Its first area store is at 5628 N. Division. The second store will move into the vacant Corral West store at 15735 E. Broadway.
Ashley Hamlett, assistant manager of the North Division store, said the Valley franchise will hire 16 to 20 associates.
Signs Now in new home
Signs Now, a franchise in Spokane for 18 years, has moved to a larger space in Spokane Valley. It’s now at 10502 E. Montgomery, Suite 2.
The company, with five employees, designs, creates and installs signs, banners and graphics. They do everything from menus to wall logos to vehicle wraps.
Signs Now opened at its new location Feb. 1 and celebrated its grand reopening last week, owner Jim Lee said. It’s open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday by appointment.
Peters and Sons moves
One of Spokane’s oldest retailers has moved to the university district. Peters and Sons Flowers relocated last month to 512 E. Pacific Ave., off Sherman, a mile east of the former storefront on Lincoln.
The new spot offers more parking and costs half as much to lease, said Susie Matteson, who has owned Peters and Sons with her husband, Ray, since 1992.
“It’s much easier to get to us now,” Matteson said.
The shop has been open since 1905. Four generations of the Peters family operated it before the Mattesons took over. They have six employees.
It’s open weekdays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon.
Barrel Room 6 private
Coeur d’Alene Cellars Winery has closed its public tasting room and converted it to a private event venue, spokeswoman Jina Copstead said.
The change is in response to a “huge demand for an upscale, affordable event venue” within walking distance of everything else in downtown Coeur d’Alene, Copstead said.
The winery, 503 E. Sherman, used its Barrel Room No. 6 for public tasting four nights a week. Events there can be arranged by phone or via the winery’s Web site.