Northwest Pizza Co. to open Valley store

Northwest Pizza Co., a pizza business with one restaurant in Hayden, is expanding into the Spokane area.  

Jeff Houghton, the company’s owner says he has partnered with his friend Andrew Vickers to create the company’s Washington entity, Northwest Pizza Co. It’s through this new entity that the two plan to open the company’s first Washington location at 10604 E. 16th, in Spokane Valley.

The company is leasing a 1,500-square-foot space near an Exxon gas station on the corner of 16th and University Road. Houghton says he and Vickers did most of the needed remodeling work for the space themselves over the past three months. He declines to disclose the cost of the remodel.

“The space is ready for us to move in, and we should open in about another month or two, once we’re finished training employees,” he says. 

Houghton says the company’s Hayden restaurant, located at 8158 N. Government way, has 11 employees, and he anticipates hiring about 15 employees for the new restaurant.

The Valley restaurant space is about 1,200 square feet smaller than the space the Hayden restaurant occupies. Houghton says that with less dine-in seating, the new restaurant will focus more on take-out and delivery orders. 

Northwest Pizza.’s menu features a variety of specialty pizzas, sandwiches, and salads. Some pizzas are available gluten free, and customers can also choose toppings and build their own pizza. 

—LeAnn Bjerken

Vintage boutique opens on Monroe

Once again, a vintage goods retailer has taken over a storefront space in the Lloyd Building at 2209 N. Monroe. 

1889 Salvage Co. began leasing the 2,000-square foot-space, formerly occupied by The Lilac Shop, a retail consignment business, in September. 

 “We’ve been open probably nine weeks now, and things have been going really well so far,” says owner Gina Campbell. 

Campbell says the vintage shop sells a wide array of home décor, salvaged pieces, some clothing, and custom-built furniture. 

“We have things from every genre really—industrial, farmhouse, mid-century, you name it,” she says.

The store’s name is derived from Spokane’s Great Fire of 1889, as well as the business’s focus on salvaging old items. 

“We wanted a name that evokes re-creation, finding a new purpose in something you thought was no longer useful,” says Campbell. 

In addition to selling vintage items, she says she offers custom-built furniture, as well as vintage staging for weddings, parties, and real estate open houses. 

While she is the business’s sole owner and only employee, Campbell says she offers other vendors rented space within the shop to display and sell their items.

“A vintage shop functions a bit differently than other stores, so they’re all kind of partners in this with me,” she says. 

Campbell says the shop is looking forward to the holiday season, hoping to inspire its customers with decoration ideas. 

“We really want this to be a place of inspiration, whether it’s buying something from us or borrowing an idea for how to repurpose your own treasures,” she says.  

—LeAnn Bjerken

Sweet Frostings plans Valley shop

Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakeshop, a 5-year old Spokane-based bakery, plans to open a shop in the Spokane Valley Mall, its third overall.

The shop will be based at a large kiosk near the Victoria’s Secret store, says Jessica Winfrey, assistant to Sweet Frostings’ owners Sally Winfrey and Judy Rozier-Beebe.

Winfrey says the owners are working on the kiosk design and hope to open at the new location soon.

The Valley outlet will offer many of the same baked sweets and dessert items that Sweet Frostings sells at its other stores, including cakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and brownies, she says.

The bakery owners are still determining how many employees the kiosk site will need, Winfrey says.

Sweet Frostings currently has 21 employees combined at its two stores.

The owners opened the first Sweet Frostings bakery in 2011 at 15 S. Washington downtown, and the second shop two years later at 12501 N. Division, in the Wandermere Shopping Center.

—Mike McLean

Spokane Forklift readies for new line

Spokane Forklift & Construction Equipment Inc. says it has reached an agreement to become a forklift dealer for KION North America, a subsidiary of KION Group, a German-based national corporation.

KION holds the No. 2 position globally for forklift sales revenue, says Tyler Melton, sales manager for Spokane Forklift.

“This allows us to provide our customers with more options and a better range of price points,” Melton says. KION is the manufacturer of the Linde and Baoli-brand forklifts.

To accommodate growth, Spokane Forklift plans to build a 5,000-square-foot building at 4614 N. Freya and move its sales department into that structure next year. Spokane Forklift currently is located in 3,000 square feet of space at 3627 E. Olympic. Melton says the company will operate in both locations. 

“With this new relationship with Kion, and steadily growing annual revenue, we plan on hiring a minimum of two mechanics by the end of 2017,” he says.

Spokane Forklift has seven employees and a customer base that extends from Missoula, Mont., to Moses Lake. The agreement with KION will enable Spokane Forklift to extend service to the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla.

—Kevin Blocker