Bob Ellis plans to open a Triumph motorcycle dealership in Spokane Valley at months end. The dealership, to be called Empire Cycle & Powersports LLC, will sell and service the bikes and will service all types of European motorcycles and also watercraft, Ellis says.


G.D. Henry Co., of Loon Lake, is completing a $100,000 remodel of a 16,000-square-foot building at 7807 E. Sprague that Ellis bought to house the dealership. The building sits on a 2-acre lot. Empire Cycle will occupy about 10,000 square feet of the building, which formerly was a Dishman Dodge used-car dealership building. Ellis plans eventually to lease out part of the shop and an office suite to another business.


The service center was to open this week, and Ellis says he expects to open the sales department Jan. 29.


At first, the business will employ a staff of four. Ellis says he eventually expects to employ about 10 people and to keep an inventory of about 30 motorcycles at the dealership. He says he intends to add a line of all-terrain vehicles at some point.


Ellis says he has operated a British motorcycle parts import business here, called Bobs British Bikes, for about five years. He plans to fold that business into Empire Cycle. He also is president of Engineered Control Systems Inc., a Spokane security system manufacturer that employs about 30 people.