Great Floors LLC, a Coeur dAlene-based flooring chain with 15 retail stores and three distribution centers, has started work on a 48,000-square-foot retail outlet just west of the Spokane Valley Mall, which will be its third Spokane-area store.


The new structure is located at 13708 E. Indiana, on about 160,000 square feet of land bought from Hanson Industries, of Spokane Valley. Its being built by Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, and is expected to be completed in February, says Doug Chadderdon, Great Floors CEO. Chadderdon declines to disclose the value of the project, but a city of Spokane Valley building permit lists its cost at $3.2 million.


The store was designed by Wolfe Architectural Group, of Spokane.


This is the biggest retail outlet weve ever built, says Chadderdon, who adds that Great Floors plans to use an identical design to build another 48,000-square-foot store at the intersection of Southeast Martin Way and Horne Avenue, in Lacey, Wash., that it also expects to get under way this month.


In addition to its 15 stores, Great Floors operates a 65,000-square-foot distribution/commercial center on East Alki Avenue, near the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, and another large distribution/commercial center in Tukwila, and Kent, Wash., says Steve Wheeler, Great Floors spokesman.


Were really excited about the new Valley store, says Chadderdon. Its the first time weve ever built close or adjacent to a shopping mall, and it will give us easy ingress and egress from the freeway.


The new store will employ about 35 people, about half of whom will be new hires and half of whom will transfer there from other Great Floors stores, he says.


He says that most of the employees at the chains store at 5716 E. Sprague will transfer to the new store and be replaced by new hires, and that Great Floors plans to make operational and product changes to the East Sprague store that hes not ready to talk about yet.


That store will continue to employ about 20 people, he says.


Great Floors opened a 42,000-square-foot store in Coeur dAlene last year.


Chadderdon asserts that Great Floors is the fourth biggest specialty floor covering business in the U.S., and says its sales will exceed $100 million this year.


By expanding into contiguous markets throughout Washington, Idaho, and possibly moving into Oregon, Great Floors expects to reach revenue of $250 million within the next five years, says Chadderdon. It will do so by building new stores and possibly making some acquisitions of other stores, he says.


Ten of Great Floors stores are located in the Puget Sound area, and all but two, in Boise and Coeur dAlene, are located in Washington. Its other Spokane store is located at 231 E. Francis, in North Spokane. It also has a store in Yakima.


The company acquired existing stores when it formed in 2000, the oldest being Carpet Center Inc., of Coeur dAlene, which began operations in 1971 and was owned by Chadderdons parents. The biggest acquisition was 10 Carpet Exchange stores in the Puget Sound area.


Chadderdon says neither the Carpet Center nor Carpet Exchange name was retained because carpets had become only one of the new companys many flooring lines, which now include tile, hardwoods, linoleum, slate, and bamboo.


The new store on Indiana will have about 15,000 square feet of showroom space and 4,500 square feet of office space, as well as retail warehouse space to display larger carpet rolls and remnants, plus a shipping and receiving area.


Chadderdon says the company employs about 400 people, including 29 at its headquarters in Coeur dAlene.