Facility maintenance company opens here

Superior Maintenance Solutions LLC, an Everett, Wash.-based facilities maintenance business, has entered the Spokane market, says Matt Biggerstaff, Spokane general manager for the company.

Biggerstaff, the only employee for the Spokane office currently, says the company doesn't have a physical office space yet. He says he's working to secure maintenance contracts with property managers and companies here, which will determine how soon it opens an office here. He says the operation here will serve customers throughout the Inland Northwest.

Matias Barnes, Everett-based operations manager for the company says hiring in Spokane is dependent on garnering additional contracts and declined to comment on the size of the workforce here.

Barnes says a tentative plan would be to have Biggerstaff open a satellite office in North Idaho by the end of this year.

"We'll see how things gel over the next couple of months, and that'll help determine the pace things move," Barnes says.

The company focuses on providing facilities management and maintenance service to the retail industry, hospitals, and government agencies, among others.

Prior to joining Superior Maintenance Solutions, Biggerstaff worked at Action Apparel here, and he has seven years of customer service and sales experience.

Biggerstaff says the Spokane branch is the only other operation besides the company's headquarters on the West Side, but it plans to open two additional locations in Oregon and Nevada in the near future.

—Jessica Valencia

Longtime floor store takes family moniker

An 80-year-old, family-owned flooring business here has a new name—Caruso's Floors.

The longtime moniker of the Linoleum Shop is being replaced with the family name, says Mark Caruso, grandson of the store's founder, Phil Caruso.

Mark Caruso says he and his father Bill Caruso operate the business, which occupies a 14,000-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Indiana Avenue and Washington Street, having moved there from its original location on Monroe Street.

Through the years, the Carusos have expanded the store's product lines, adapting to home trends and fashion changes, and the original name doesn't reflect the scope of products it now carries, he says.

In addition to linoleum and vinyl sheet flooring, Caruso's Floors stocks carpeting, area rugs, hardwood, bamboo, tile, porcelain, stone, and cork, Caruso says. It also carries granite countertops, he says.

Caruso's Floors has 35 employees, and its sales are split fairly evenly between residential and commercial customers, he says.

—Mike McLean

Golf instruction outlet opens near downtown

Potter Golf Instruction LLC, which does business as the Spokane franchise of Centennial, Colo.-based GolfTEC, has opened a high-tech golf instruction shop north of downtown.

Randy Potter, a 10-year Professional Golfers' Association of America golf pro, owns and operates the shop, which occupies about 500 square feet of leased space at 1207 N. Washington. The franchise employs one other PGA pro, Potter says.

GolfTEC instructors use motion measurement, digital video, and biofeedback technology to evaluate and improve golf techniques, he says.

"Everything is video- and Web-based," Potter says.

Two camera angles record the client's movements, and a small harness tracks motion with six shoulder and hip measurements.

The system builds an online player profile that enables clients to review their lessons and performance from home, Potter says.

GolfTEC also sells custom clubs and uses electronic launch monitors to match equipment with clients, he says.

Founded in 1995, GolfTEC has 166 locations throughout the U.S. and is the largest employer of PGA professionals, Potter says.

Jeff Ottmar, a commercial real estate agent with Cornerstone Property Advisors LLC, of Spokane, handled the GolfTEC lease.

—Mike McLean

Upholstery service to move Valley shop

Mild Too Wild Upholstery, of Spokane Valley, is buying two structures at 9601 E. Sprague and plans to move there by early April.

Maria Homen, who owns the upholstery shop with her husband, Manuel, says the purchase of the property, which most recently was home to a small used-car lot, is expected to close March 15.

The shop provides upholstery repair and custom work for automobiles, home furniture, boats, and motorcycles. It also offers custom-fit motorcycle seats and specialty work for hot rods, says Maria Homen. The company employs four people, including the owners, with the two other workers recently hired.

"It's a very good location," Homen says. "We'll own it, and it ensures future growth. We're expanding and adding more employees."

Homen says the couple already has started to remodel the 3,000-square-foot shop at the new site and a separate 1,300-square-foot showroom there. Since 2011, the company has operated in leased space at 2921 N. University.

Homen says her husband was taught the trade by his father, and the couple first opened a business in the Valley in May 2007, previously on 108 S. Willow.

—Treva Lind