Comedy club slated to open downtown

Spokane Comedy Club, a new stand-up comedy venue, is scheduled to open downtown on St. Patrick’s Day, says Adam Norwest, one of the owners of the club’s parent company, Tacoma-based Bark Entertainment LLC.The club will occupy 6,000 square feet of recently remodeled, leased space at 315 W. Sprague, Norwest says. Bark Entertainment also owns Tacoma Comedy Club, which it has operated for more than five years, Norwest says.“One of our owners is retired Air Force who was stationed at Fairchild, and he wanted to come back to Spokane, so we’re excited to do that,” Norwest says.The venue will employ a staff of 10 to 20 and seat about 275 people, he says.The club will have a full bar and will offer theater-style concessions, Norwest says.Tickets will be $10 to $20 for regular shows, and slightly higher for special events, he says.Admission will be free on open-mic Wednesdays, Norwest says.Sarah Colonna, a regular guest and writer for the E! network show Chelsea Lately, will be Spokane Comedy Club’s debut performer on March 17.The club’s first special event, scheduled on March 20, will feature Jamie Kennedy, a comedian and actor who starred in the WB network’s practical-joke reality TV series The Jamie Kennedy Experiment and also is known for his acting role as movie buff Randy Meeks in the movies Scream and Scream 2.Spokane commercial real estate brokers Levi McCormick, of SDS Realty Inc., and Tim Kestell, of Kiemle & Hagood Co., negotiated the lease for the venue.

—Mike McLean

Franchisee plans more restaurants

Mark Engberson, a Spokane-based franchisee for both Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and Wingstop, says he intends to open four new restaurants of each brand over the next five years or so. 

Engberson currently operates one Dickey’s location at 12628 N. Division and a Wingstop at 9333 N. Newport Hwy., but he says he is scouting the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas with the intention of creating four new locations for each. Engberson will partner with Palouse Restaurant Group to open the Dickey’s and Wingstop outlets. Together the group owns a variety of quick-serve restaurants, including Carl’s Jr. and Subway eateries.“We’re really close to finding a location for a Dickey’s in Coeur d’Alene,” says Engberson. “This whole process really depends on determining the right location, and on how quickly we can find and train management.” Engberson says the size of the outlets will determine how many employees are needed, but his current Dickey’s location has about 15. Based in Texas, Dickey’s is touted to be one of the largest barbeque restaurant chains in the nation, Engberson says. Wingstop also is a Texas-based restaurant chain and serves three styles of chicken wings in 13 different flavors. While his Dickey’s location doesn’t serve alcohol, Engberson says his Wingstop location does, and he has some interest in adding local microbrews to the menu at the current and possible future outlets.  At the same time that Engberson is looking to expand, he says another Dickey’s restaurant, operated by a different owner, is set to open this month at 14720 E. Sprague, in Spokane Valley. He says he hopes that location does well. “We want them to be excellent, because it helps promote the franchise overall,” he says. “Although it’s independently owned, we really look at it as being part of one big family.” 

—LeAnn Bjerken

Sports bar, barber open in Hillyard

The Hillyard Library Sports Bar & Barbershop has opened at 2936 E. Olympic in Hillyard, and owner Dwayne Alexander says it’s off to a strong start.“In our first week, we had more than 1,000 people come through the door,” Alexander says. “The turnout has been way more than expected.”The restaurant menu at the sports bar features nachos, tacos and salads. Pulled pork and seafood tacos are the menu highlights, he says. The restaurant, which can hold up to 50 patrons, features a virtual golf stall within its 3,000 square feet of space. A barbershop occupying about 400 square feet of space allows up to two barbers to offer haircuts and shaves in an adjoining room. The beige brick building at the southwest corner of Olympic Avenue and Haven Street originally housed the Hillyard Library, with books, from 1930 to 1983.Alexander purchased the building last year from the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen, the owner and operator of the Mount St. Michael chapel northeast of Spokane, which bought the structure in 1983, he says.Alexander declines to reveal the purchase price, but says his initial investment in the business has been about $250,000. He hopes the sports bar can generate $250,000 to $500,000 annually.Alexander, an Asotin, Wash., native, owns and operates Hillyard Investment Group LLC. The sports bar and barbershop are among 11 businesses and properties owned by that limited liability company.In 2004, Alexander and former partner John Allen formed Northwest Mailing Inc., the limited liability company’s flagship business, which sells and services mailing equipment. 

—Kevin Blocker

Paper florist moves to River Park Square

Anemone Paper Florists has moved from its 309 W. Second location to a new kiosk-like space on the ground floor of River Park Square. Owner Mary Eberle says she decided to move the store after an alcohol-treatment program moved in next door. “I feel bad saying they were the reason for the move, because they were all really nice people,” says Eberle. “Unfortunately, having so many people just outside our door smoking and talking was starting to deter business.”Anemone previously had been a seasonal vendor in the downtown mall, located at 808 W. Main. Eberle says that experience has made Anemone’s transition to its current space easier.Compared to its previous store space of 900 square feet, the business’s new space is small; it’s in a 500-square-foot kiosk on the mall’s ground level.Anemone’s flowers are made of paper, but look like regular flowers. Prices for arrangements and wedding bouquets set to be similar to those of a traditional florist, Eberle says.

—LeAnn Bjerken