Chris Stephens, the president and general manager of Spokane-based Uncle Dan’s Seasoning & Salad Dressings Inc., says the company launched a new product last month called Game Day Dip.
A variation of Uncle Dan’s Zesty Ranch, the dip comes with two new recipes for salsa and guacamole.
The new dip is available in some Super 1 Foods stores, Rosauers supermarkets, and Bartell Drug stores in the Pacific Northwest.
“We wanted to create a special product for sports fans around the Pacific Northwest to get excited about,” Stephens says.
Stephens’ father, Dan Stephens, founded Uncle Dan’s 50 years ago when he began mixing his own salad dressings at home in 1966.
Uncle Dan’s has four employees, all of whom work at the company’s headquarters at 623 N. Hogan.
Stephens says the company also sells its product line within that same 2,200 square feet of leased space.
He says in February, after 10 years of trying, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. began carrying Uncle Dan’s products.
According to Stephens, the company has spent more time marketing itself in recent years, albeit on a limited advertising budget.
“We do very little advertising beyond radio, but locally, our grassroots marketing has worked really well for us. We have a strong and dedicated customer base,” he says.
—Kevin Blocker
Nectar Wine & Beer owner Josh Wade says he plans to open a second beer-and-wine shop, his third location overall, in Spokane’s South Perry District next year.
Wade, who originally started Nectar Tasting Room at 120 N. Stevens downtown in 2011, expanded the business last year with the opening of Nectar Wine & Beer at 1331 W. Summit Parkway, in Kendall Yards.
“That location has been doing really well,” says Wade.
He says he’s begun working toward opening a second Nectar Beer & Wine location in a new building at 907 S. Perry. Wade says he will be leasing a first floor, 3,600-square-foot space in that commercial building.
The building is owned by Spokane physicians Drs. Lisanne Laurier and Harold Preiksaitis, who intend to use the building’s second floor as office space.
Wade says the new location will serve as a primary base of operations, with space for offices, storage, and a walk-in cooler. He says construction of the project is expected to start in February, with the store scheduled to open by May.
“If you live in neighborhood, our goal is to be the spot where you come both to drink wine or beer, and to buy it,” he says.
In addition to expanding the Nectar Wine & Beer locations, Wade also has plans to combine his catering business, formerly known as Just a Couple of Moms Catering, with the Nectar Tasting Room next spring.
He says the Nectar Tasting Room will remain as is until the end of December, at which point the venue will undergo a facelift with new interior furnishings and equipment. It will then combine services with the catering company, and reopen in February as Nectar Catering & Events.
Wade says currently the Nectar Tasting Room and Nectar Wine & Beer have a total of 15 employees, but he anticipates hiring at least 10 more to operate the new store.
“We do have plans for continued expansions, but again it all depends on how successful each location continues to be,” says Wade.
—LeAnn Bjerken
A branch of Alliance Title & Escrow Corp. has moved into a 6,500-square-foot space in the Riverstone development, at 2157 N. Main in Coeur d’Alene.
Previously located at 1270 Northwood Center Court in Coeur d’Alene, the branch moved to its new space in early October.
Alliance Title’s Coeur d’Alene-based Senior Regional Vice President Jack Wheir says the new location gives customers more parking spaces and puts the branch in a more visible location.
“It’s been a good move for us,” says Wheir. “We can accommodate a greater amount of closings because this space gives us more closing rooms and better parking access for our customers.”
Alliance Title has been operating in Coeur d’Alene for 22 years. The Boise-based company has a total of 32 branches, most of which are located in Idaho. The company’s Coeur d’Alene office has 19 employees.
Wheir says the company also has three branches each in Montana and Wyoming, and one in Clarkston, Wash.
—Kevin Blocker
Tony and Christina Strand, who own and operate 19Ninety Apparel and West Coast Screen Printing & Embroidery, have moved their Spokane Valley businesses to a larger, shared space at the northwest corner of Sprague Avenue and Pines Road.
Tony Strand says the businesses are now operating in 4,200 square feet of leased space in the Opportunity 2 retail building at 12109 E. Sprague, which gives 19Ninety Apparel and West Coast Screen Printing & Embroidery five times the space they had at their old location, at 11128 E. Sprague.
19Ninety Apparel, a clothing boutique, specializes in women’s tank tops, which it provides at a low price point, Strand claims, adding, “We sell eight dozen tanks a day.”
The store also carries Fox-brand men’s and women’s apparel.
West Coast Screen Printing & Embroidery handles custom artwork and graphic designs for apparel for teams, corporate clients, and individuals.
West Coast Screen Printing & Embroidery and 19Ninety combined have four employees, including the couple, who incorporated both businesses in 2014, and their two daughters.
Commercial real estate brokers Caitlin Caudle, of Spokane-based NAI Black, and Steven Jones, of Windermere Valley/Liberty Lake, negotiated the lease.
—Mike McLean