Founders to return to operate German eatery at Five Mile
George Weimer says he and his ex-wife, Ute Taylor, who together opened the Chic-A-Ria German Inn & Lounge in the Five Mile Plaza and operated it for 12 years until selling it five years ago, have taken it back and plan to reopen it within the next few weeks.

"I'm kind of excited about it. It's in my blood," Weimer says.

Weimer says he currently is doing some cleaning and remodeling at the restaurant at 1812 W. Francis, which closed Jan. 1, and expects it to employ about 25 people, perhaps 12 of them full time, when it reopens. The 6,700-square-foot establishment, which specializes in German cuisine, includes a banquet room in addition to the restaurant and lounge and offers seating for about 250 people. Weimer says the menu will remain largely the same, except for the possible addition of some new entrees.

Weimer and Taylor came to the U.S. from Germany in 1987 and bought the Bread Basket restaurant at Shadle Center, which they operated until 1998, shortly before the retail center was renovated and a Wal-Mart store was constructed there.

Weimer also is co-owner of the Reflections Kaffee Haus & Eatery, which opened two years ago in the Bank of Whitman building downtown.

Laundry chain here opens more locations
Beacon Services Inc., which operates a chain of Beacon Cleaners & Laundry outlets here, has opened two more, giving it a total of eight Spokane locations, says owner Hibum Kim.

Kim says the new outlets, at 2525 E. 29th and 3112 S. Grand Blvd., opened in November and December, respectively. Each shop is about 1,300 square feet in size, and both previously served as branches of the now defunct Schelling's Dry Cleaners.

Kim says that each shop has two full-time employees, and that Beacon Services employs about 34 people in all.

Joel Crosby, of Tomlinson Commercial Real Estate, of Spokane, handled the leases.

Beacon Services' other outlets are at 1310 W. Northwest Blvd., 7 S. Stevens, 1310 S. Grand Blvd., 3329 W. Indian Trail, 328 N. Sullivan, and 9319 N. Newport Highway.

Mobile office dealer expands into area, plans to open branch
Chehalis, Wash.-based Pacific Mobile Structures Inc., a provider of mobile offices and modular buildings, has begun operating in the Spokane area and plans to open a branch here soon, says Spokane manager Chris Caraway, who currently is conducting business from his home in Cheney.

Caraway says the company is looking for property on the West Plains, and typically buys the property it occupies rather than leasing it.

He says Pacific Mobile Structures, which has offices in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California, has wanted to open an office in or near Spokane for a while. Its closest office is located in Pasco, Wash.

Pacific Mobile leases out mobile office units, mostly for use on construction sites, and sells permanent modular buildings that are used for day-care centers and medical clinics, among other things.

Caraway is Pacific Mobile's only employee in the area, but says the company plans on hiring several people gradually throughout the year. He says the company employs about 175 people in all.

First Choice Health to move its office here
Seattle-based First Choice Health Network Inc., which operates a preferred provider organization (PPO) and offers other health-care services, is expanding here. It has leased about 8,000 square feet of floor space at 121 W. Cataldo, and plans to move its Spokane operations there from smaller quarters at 400 S. Jefferson by Feb. 1, says Curtis Taylor, chief marketing officer for the company.

WAM Construction Inc., of Spokane, has been tapped as the general contractor for the interior improvements, which Taylor says will exceed $250,000 in cost.

Taylor says the company began operating in Spokane four years ago with 10 employees, but now has 35 employees here and could grow to as many as 55 employees by the end of the year.

First Choice Health recently has taken on new hospital clients from the state's West Side and decided to expand its operations in Spokane to handle some of the workload. Additional reasons for the growth here include favorable labor and real estate markets, says Taylor.