Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc., the big Prineville, Ore.-based tire-sales and automotive-repair chain, plans to develop a service center in Airway Heights, just west of Spokane.


Dave Husk, the companys director of development, says the outlet will be a 16,000-square-foot, eight-bay facility with a showroom, customer-waiting area, large vehicle-service area, and a warehouse. It will be constructed, he says, on about two and a half acres of land the company has bought on the south side of U.S. 2 west of Hayford Road. He declines to estimate the cost of the project.


Altons Tire Centers, a Spokane-based chain, earlier this year opened a $1.4 million, 16-bay store on an adjacent piece of land, nearer the intersection, at the site of the former Longhorn Burger Stop.


Were currently in the process of doing drawings and preparing a site plan, Husk says. Les Schwab hopes to obtain a building permit by the end of this year, begin construction next spring, and open the store in the fall, he says. The store probably will employ about 15 people and will be fairly large compared with other Schwab stores in the Spokane area, he adds.


The company currently has 10 outlets in Spokane County, including eight in the Spokane area and one each in Cheney and Deer Park. It also has three outlets in Kootenai Countyone each in Post Falls, Coeur dAlene, and Hayden.


Overall, the Les Schwab chain currently includes 304 company-owned outlets and 84 independently owned outlets, all located in eight Western states.