Nicholas Knapton, owner of the Spokane-based accounting firm Nicholas Knapton PS, says the firm has opened a satellite office in downtown Seattle.
“We have a lot of clients who have both a presence in Spokane and Seattle,” Knapton says. “We have a client list of roughly 900, and I would say that 20 percent of them are in Western Washington.”
The firm offers tax planning and preparation services, attest engagements including reviews and audits, business valuations, cost segregations of real estate, examination representation including tax controversy, litigation support, state and local tax studies, and estate and gift planning, Knapton says.
In Spokane, the firm occupies the entire 7,200-square-foot sixth floor of the Fernwell Building at 505 W. Riverside downtown and employs 20 people. In Seattle, Knapton says, the firm will lease about 1,500 square feet of office space on the 13th floor of the 17-story Hoge Building, at the intersection of Second Avenue and Cherry Street. The firm has hired three new employees to staff the office.
“Spokane and Seattle have grown closer and closer together. We’re proud to be a Spokane-based business with a satellite office in Seattle. Typically it’s the other way around,” Knapton says.
Knapton, who has a master’s degree in accounting and a law degree from Gonzaga University, spent 10 years with Spokane accounting firm McDirmid, Mikkelsen & Secrest PS before opening his own firm in 2009.
—Kevin Blocker
Patricia and Laurent Zirotti, co-owners of the French restaurant Fleur De Sel in Post Falls, have opened a new, casual-style crepe restaurant on Spokane’s South Hill.
The Post Falls restaurant is located at 4365 Inverness Drive, in the same building as the Highland’s Day Spa, and serves both French and Italian cuisine.
The new South Hill restaurant, located at 909 S. Grand Blvd., near Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital, shares the same name as the couple’s Idaho establishment, but serves a selection of different types of crepes. Those include everything from sweeter crepes, such as lemon curd and salted caramel, to more savory crepes, like steelhead trout.
Harry Crase, who serves as general manager for the creperie, says the restaurant opened Nov. 6 and employs eight people.
Patricia Zirotti declines to disclose the costs of remodeling the new space. Both restaurants suffered power outages in the recent Inland Northwest windstorm, and as a result, the creperie is off to a slow start.
“It has been difficult with the weather, trying to get a routine started and begin to establish ourselves in the area,” she says. “But just like with any challenge, I’m sure things will begin to take off again soon.”
Crase says, “We only have a few weeks behind us now, but overall we’re pleased with the amount of people who’ve come through.”
He says the big difference between the creperie and its sister restaurant in Post Falls is the focus on casual dining.
“Customers order at the counter and we call them up for their food. Everything is served on compostable paper, with compostable cutlery as well,” Crase says. “This is meant to be a quicker and more casual experience than what you’d see at the original Fleur De Sel.”
—LeAnn Bjerken
Maureen Tracy, owner of Spokane Valley-based Tracy Jewelers, says she has agreed to sell the business to her nephew, Sean Tracy, in early 2016.
The store occupies 4,000 square feet of space at 106 N. Evergreen and has been at that location since 2007. Maureen Tracy says she will remain on staff part time as a gemologist and certified appraiser.
Sean Tracy, 45, is a son of Leo Tracy, Maureen Tracy’s brother. In 1950, Patrick and Norann Tracy opened Tracy Jewelers with the desire of providing quality jewelry and repair at affordable prices. Leo and Maureen are two of Patrick and Norann Tracy’s 10 children, Maureen Tracy says.
In 1972, Leo Tracy bought the business from his father with a focus on his specialty, watchmaking and clock repair. Leo sold the business to Maureen in 1995. She and her husband, Dave Hansen, moved the jewelry store to its current location from a Spokane Valley location near Argonne Road and Sprague Avenue.
In April 2013, Tracy told the Journal she was going to sell the business to employee Glen Brown, but that deal was never completed. Tracy declines to elaborate about the transaction, but said Brown is still a valued employee at the company.
“We love that it’s staying in the family,” Tracy says. “Sean previously worked here doing castings and designs in the late ’90s and then moved to Seattle before returning a couple of years ago.”
Alexi Tracy, a daughter of Sean and his wife, Christie, also will join the staff, adding a fourth-generation family member to Tracy Jewelers.
—Kevin Blocker
A new Pinot’s Palette studio has opened in Coeur d’Alene’s Midtown neighborhood at 728 N. Fourth.
Franchisee Jackie Casey and her husband Jeff Hansen are leasing the 1,300-square-foot space, which they say is much like their original Spokane location at 32 W. Second.
The couple operates both studios, which offer live art instruction from local experts coupled with wine and beer.
Casey says the new Coeur d’Alene location underwent some remodeling to prepare it for use as a studio space. “We added an extra bathroom, the bar area, and a storage room,” she says. “This building is fairly old, so we had to redo some of the plumbing and that kind of thing too.”
Casey says the business expects to have at least five employees, compared to the Spokane Pinot’s eight.
The store held its grand opening Friday, Nov. 27.
Pinot’s Palette is a Houston-based chain that started in 2009. Casey says she became interested in the franchise after working as a wine representative in Oklahoma. “I decided to try it, and ended up liking it so much I went back a few more times,” she says.
Casey then brought her husband along to a session, and after seeing how much she enjoyed it, he convinced her to try starting a Pinot’s of her own.
“So now here we are, two stores in,” says Casey.
—LeAnn Bjerken