Spokane's first Cookie Co. franchise to open on Dec. 3rd

 Cookie Co., a new franchise cookie bakery has been hard at work preparing to open their first location in the Spokane area. In fact, this is also the company's first location in Washington state and is part of an aggressive national expansion by the California based brand.

Credit- Cookie Co. Spokane's Facebook

The shop will be located at 1028 N. Hamilton Suite 190, nearby Gonzaga with indoor ordering and a drive thru offered. The new location will be led by husband-and-wife Adam Le and Dr. Katie Huynh.

 Dr. Huynh is a neurosurgeon, who's humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee instilled important life lessons in her including the vital need to give back to the community. For over two years, she has been bringing cookies to the operating room staff as a simple way to say thanks to her invaluable team members. Every week, the staff looks forward to the cookie flavors she chooses, and now they will be able to enjoy the fresh cookies from Cookie Co. made from proprietary recipes.  

The new location will celebrate their grand opening on Sat. Dec. 3rd at 10 am. A raffle will be included at the grand opening event to give away a full year of free cookies to two lucky winners. Cookie Co., the company started in 2020 during the height of the pandemic with cookies sold on Instagram and delivered out of the owner's garage. The company says they use real eggs, real butter, real sugar and no oils or corn syrups.

Cookie Co. began opening locations in April and will have opened 12 new locations by the end of the year. The company is also actively seeking franchise partners, and those interested can find out more by contacting - franchise@cookieco.com

For info on the company and the current cookies offered, visit http://cookieco.com or follow the Spokane location on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CookieCoSpokane

Hawaiian inspired restaurant called Konala coming to Post Falls

 An exciting new restaurant is coming soon to Post Falls! Konala is planning to open in a brand-new building coming soon to 107 E. 7th, behind the Bunker Bar on parcel where a former BBQ restaurant once stood. In fact, the new business will be locally owned and operated by Trace and Jammie Miller who also own the Bunker Bar and Burger Bunker food truck.

Konala, which is a Hawaiian word for meaning "world ruler" being used by the owners as they want to help change the world one store at a time by offering healthier options for people to eat quickly and conveniently. It is also a combination of their dog's names Kona and Nala, and as dog lovers they plan to have dog treats for dogs brought to the restaurant.

The owners met and lived in Hawaii say they miss the local food. The menu will have many Hawaiian inspired items like teriyaki chicken, grilled steak, salads and poke bowls. It will be healthy fast food with drive thru, an online order pick-up window and outdoor ordering kiosk / seating area.

Architectural firm HDG of Spokane designed the restaurant and the building is being constructed off-site by Xtreme Cubes of Las Vegas who have built many quick service restaurants for national brands. They tell me the building will be 99% complete by the time it's installed on the site in Post Falls. As of the current plan Konala is planning to open for business around March of 2023.

Updates and more will be coming soon on their website http://konala.com 

Charlie's Produce planning large warehouse on the West Plains

 Recently filed building permits and a SEPA application indicate that Seattle based Charlie's Produce is planning to build a new warehouse with cold storage capabilities on the West Plains. The structure will be 84,540 SF total with a 72,000 SF cold storage warehouse and 12,000 SF of office space, all to be built at 6505 W. 40th Ave., just west of Grove Rd. on the West Plains.

We reached out to Charlie's Produce, but they did not reply for comment / project info. However, details filed in public records show the new facility is to be completed on or about October of 2023 with upwards of 150 employees working at the site. The project is estimated to cost $16.8 million with Fisher Construction Group acting as the general contractor.

Charlie's Produce presently operates a warehouse on E. Ferry Ave. in Spokane, which we can assume will be relocated to the new facility following its completion. The company also presently operates other warehouses in Seattle, Portland, Boise, Salt Lake City, Anchorage and Los Angeles. For more information on their company, visit https://www.charliesproduce.com/

Spokane based Mama Torrez Salsa Company announces major West Coast expansion

 Mama Torrez Salsa Company, founded in 2017 in Spokane by Gilda Meyer and her family has announced a new major west coast expansion led by their newly appointed CEO, food industry leader, Chris Hannigan. Hannigan, a second-generation Mexican American said, "I am excited to lead and grow a beloved brand by offering retail partners fresh, authentic salsa & chip products influenced by their rich culinary history of Leon, Mexico".

Hannigan and his team have plans to upgrade and expand the Spokane production facility, enabling them to facilitate their aggressive growth strategy that includes adding 1,000 new retail outlets in the first half of 2023. In a recent release they also indicate that they plan grow the production team and offer a competitive salary and benefits package.

The expansion plans at Mama Torrez Salsa are being supported by a capital investment derived from a group of private equity backers of experienced food investors and prominent food executives. 

The salsa's produced by Mama Torrez are based on an age-old family recipe handed down by Gilda's mother, Mama Torrez currently sells six salsas and three different tortilla chips. The salsas and chips all retail for $5.79 and are sold in the refrigerated produce section. Mama Torrez has also been a vendor a several Spokane area shows and farmers markets in recent years.

For more info on Mama Torrez, visit their website- http://mamatorrez.com

Vendor mall, Vibe, coming to the Sprague Union District

 A new business is planning to add to the already cool vibes of the section of E. Sprague, now called the Sprague Union District. Greenacres Vendor Mall has spent the last few years at 16814 E. Sprague in the Spokane Valley but found a new opportunity in the up-and-coming district. They are now planning on re-branding their business and relocating a former furniture store space at 1801 E. Sprague.

The new store will be called Vibe and they indicated in a recent social media post they hope to be open in the space on or about Nov. 25th, with remodeling going on now and a cool new Vibe mural being actively added to the side of their new building. From Nov. 25th though Jan. 20th they plan to operate both stores but will close down the Valley store after that point.

The building they are moving to is a 6000 SF space and was last used by the now closed Rail Creek Furniture. The new store joins a growing number of vintage and secondhand vendors that now call this neighborhood home. 

For more info watch their social media or website at http://theplacetoflea.com

Large office building planned at Prairie & Ramsey in Hayden

 Late last month involved parties gathered on a parcel at the corner of Prairie & Ramsey Rd in Hayden for the groundbreaking of a new office building. The currently vacant site will soon be home to a new 20,000 SF office building with a few tenants possible.

The building will be on the northeast side of the intersection and already has one committed tenant. Riverstone Dental Care will occupy an 8,000 SF section of the building with 12,000 SF of space now available for lease. Suites will be available from 2,200 SF to 10,000 SF, with use of a shared basement that will have a banquet room / conference center with kitchenette. The site will also include a surface parking area with 133 spaces.

The building will be entirely class A office space and will take advantage of a growing section of the region as several subdivisions and apartment complexes are under construction within a short radius of the site. Additionally, Post Falls based Kinder Prep Learning Center also has a new day care facility under construction now on the parcel directly to the west of this new building.

Silvey Construction is the general contractor for the project with Uptic Studios doing the architectural work. Plans call for the new development to be complete by the fall of 2023. Leasing of the remaining space is being managed by the CCIM Team of Coldwell Banker Commerical Schneidmiller Realty with additional information available on their website- http://ccimteam.com

Apartment conversion coming to a historic Howard St. building in Downtown Spokane

 More apartments are coming to Downtown Spokane, with an exciting renovation project planned to start soon on N. Howard. Permits are currently pending to convert the upper floors of the building at 220 N. Howard into 8 new apartments. This is the building that houses Steelhead Bar & Grille and Atticus Coffee & Gifts on the street level, these spaces are not affected by the permits and will stay open.

Permits value the project at $500,000 with Spokane based Construction Services listed as the general contractor and Russell C Page Architects shown as performing the agricultural design work for the project.

We reached out the developer and have been told the apartments will be high end with a cool vibe. Although not official yet, they also say the apartments will likely be part market rate units and shorter-term Airbnb type rentals. Plans on file show the units will be a mix of both one- and two-bedroom units.