Love's takes shape
Construction has begun on Love's Travel Stop on about 10 acres in the northwest corner of Interstate 90 and Pleasantview Road west of Post Falls. With completion planned for September, the development will include a 9,000- square-foot building with a 24-hour country store, truck tire center, 24 fuel pumps, a Carl's Jr. restaurant and a game room-office.
The Love's Travel Stop company started in 1964 and has about 270 outlets with the only ones in the Northwest in Heyburn, Idaho, and Tacoma and Ellensburg, Wash. Another 20 outlets are planned for this year at an average of $7.5 million for each place. Its headquarters is in Oklahoma City. The Post Falls business at 4100 E. Expo Parkway will employ about 35 people.
Specializing in a diverse menu with charbroiled burgers and "green" and breakfast burritos, Carl's Jr. started in 1941 and is a sister company to Hardee's restaurants. With its headquarters in Carpenteria, Calif., Carl's Jr. has 1,233 outlets, including one in Coeur d'Alene. Check www.carlsjr.com.
Coeur d'Alene Audio opens on Fourth Street
The sales and installation of mobile audio, security and video equipment are the specialties of Coeur d'Alene Audio, now open at 1024 N. Fourth St. With several name brands among the choices, the business offers many options for accessories for these systems in cars, trucks and boats.
Owner Steve Bickel is into these sounds as well as his own as the bass guitar player for the classic rock band Motorboat.
Hours at Coeur d'Alene Audio, with two installation bays, are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Phone 667-4944. Check www.cdaaudiorocks.com.
Midtown Salon opens this week
Full services--including for hair, skin, nails, full-base waxing and massage--will be offered at Midtown Salon. With about 10 specialists, the new business plans to open this week in Suite B at 1928 N. Fourth St. The 2,000-square-foot space in the North Idaho Building Contractors building had most recently been a thrift store.
With 11 years' experience and as a certified color specialist, owner Brittany Ott said the salon will be open 9 a.m. 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Phone 292-4755.
Here this
week's Tidbits:
• Thee Place Salon has closed at 104 E. Indiana Ave., Coeur d'Alene, after 40 years in business. Lenette Reisenauer is retiring, and Diane Cataldo is now with The Salon at 1800 Government Way (next to Papa Murphy's Pizza).
• The plans for McEuen Field are controversial and interesting. If the plans or even a portion of them happen, many more people definitely would use the downtown city park space. Maybe that's why a few nearby residents (on Tubbs Hill overlooking McEuen) are upset with the plans and promoting their one-sided online survey. Currently McEuen is hardly used (except for the ball fields) despite its lakeside downtown location. The survey's results could be misleading as nothing stops participants from filling it out numerous times. Personally, I think most of the plan is good. I also think the main trail on Tubbs Hill should be handicap accessible. As it is now, even a person pushing a stroller can't use it, let alone someone in a wheelchair. That doesn't mean it has to be paved.
• Watch for two new restaurants (not including the one in the former Cd'A Brewing Co. space) coming to downtown Coeur d'Alene.
• The national college women's basketball tournament would be more "interesting" if the ladies wore outfits that were more flattering and not what the men wear. Someone could develop/promote this and make lotsa bucks.
• It's too bad glass can't be recycled in Kootenai County. Glass bottles (not windows) can be recycled at the Spokane Recycle Transfer Center north on Sullivan Road. Hmmm. Maybe an enterprising person could develop a glass recycling process here.
• Contact Nils Rosdahl at nrosdahl@cdapress.com.