Spokane natives John Keegan and Lynette Byrne say they have entered into a franchise agreement with Batteries Plus, a Wisconsin-based retail chain, and plan to open three Batteries Plus stores here over the next two years.


The franchisees say they have leased 1,400 square feet of retail space in a strip center at 7704 N. Division and plan to open a store there next Monday that will employ four or five people in addition to themselves. They say they expect to open stores later in the Spokane Valley and Coeur dAlene and hope to buy or build the structures that will house those stores.


Keegan says that if all goes well, he and Byrne also might explore opening smaller Batteries Plus stores in some outlying communities in North Idaho and Eastern Washington, such as Sandpoint and Pullman, and also might look at expanding to the Tri-Cities.


If the market will take more stores, well put more stores in, he says.


Batteries Plus stores sell batteries for everything from watches, hearing aids, cellular phones, and computer backup systems, to motorcycles, dog collars, and cordless phones and tools.


Its a one-stop shop for batteries, basically, Keegan says, adding that he and Byrne plan to cater heavily to commercial clients who use lots of batteries.


In addition to selling batteries, Batteries Plus stores install them and accept them for recycling, the franchisees say. They say each store also operates a service center where batteries can be tested, reconditioned, and rebuilt.


Based in Hartland, Wis., near Milwaukee, Batteries Plus was founded in 1988 with a single store in Green Bay. It claims it now has more than 200 locations nationwide.


Keegan formerly was president of Imperial Data Supply Corp., a Spokane-based regional distributor of computer and office-automation products and supplies. Dayton, Ohio-based Miami Computer Supply Corp. bought that company in 1997.