Popcorn maker starts to sell products via web
Movie Style Popcorn Inc., a Spokane-based popcorn manufacturer, has begun offering direct retail sales through a website it launched last month, www.moviestylepopcorn.com.

The company, owned by Frank Herrera, has been in business for 23 years and was known as Kelly's Premium Snack Foods Co. until Herrera purchased and renamed it in 1997.

Direct retail sales are new to Movie Style Popcorn, and Herrera is hoping to expand the market through the Internet. He says he already is garnering business through the site.

"I had a personal trainer call me and want to order it for his clients. We are totally gluten free, and we do not use MSG," he says.

The business manufactures popcorn, caramel corn, kettle corn, and cotton candy. It conventionally has sold its products wholesale to the grocery and convenience store industry. The newest flavors are ranch, dill, garlic, and chipotle, and the product is currently available at most Spokane-area supermarkets. Herrera says he also sells to independent distributors.

The company employs three people, in addition to Herrera, and plans to add more if increased business warrants it, he says.

Bruce Baker, of 4 Net Solutions, built the website.

—Audrey Danals

Direct sales concern opens office in Valley
Ampition Inc., a Bountiful, Utah-based direct-sales contractor, says it has opened an office in Spokane Valley, where it has launched its Spokane-area operations under a contract to sell cable TV, phone, and Internet services for Comcast Corp.

Ampition currently employs 10 people based in about 1,200 square feet of leased space at 9612 E. Sprague, says John Theisen, Spokane-area manager. Theisen says Ampition is looking to expand its sales crew here to 35 within a month.

Commercial real estate agent Rob Tyson, of Stonemark Real Estate Co., of Spokane Valley, handled the lease.

Theisen says Ampition will focus on residential, door-to-door sales under its Comcast contract. Ampition also works with clients to place products in retail stores and to maximize product placement and direct marketing at events, he says.

—Mike McLean

Video, audio business moves farther north
Mortimore Productions, of Spokane, has moved inside the Service Station coffee shop and concert venue, on Spokane's North Side.

Owner Dan Mortimore says the company has leased a 1,200-square-foot space on the second floor of the structure, located at 9315 N. Nevada. The 25-year-old video-and-audio production company had been located at 1520 W. Garland, where it had done business for 18 years.

"We create and execute projects for advertising agencies and corporations related to audio and video content," Mortimore says, "and right now we produce 60 percent video and 40 percent audio."

The company's clients include Spokane Valley-based Numerica Credit Union; Colfax, Wash.-based McGregor Co.; Spokane advertising firm BHW1; MDI Marketing; Downtown Spokane Partnership; and Bozeman Mont.-based Murdock's Ranch & Home Supply.

The business employs three people, in addition to Mortimore and his wife, Jolene, who serves as the company's vice president. Mortimore says he'd like to expand, but is waiting to see what happens with the economy.

—Audrey Danals

Motorcycle dealership moving near downtown
A three-year-old motorcycle business here named STEX Motorsports has leased a 7,000-square-foot building just east of downtown and plans to move there early next month, says owner Stephen Gates.

The building that the dealership will occupy is located at 123 E. Sprague, just east of the 105-year-old former Western Soap Co. building that The Edge Development Group LLC has redeveloped into office space and loft living units. That company also owns the building that the dealership is leasing, and RenCorp Realty LLC, of Spokane, is renovating the structure.

STEX, which Gates has been operating from his home in the South Perry area, specializes in the sale, service, repair, and restoration of vintage to modern European and Japanese motorcycles, Gates says.

Along with used and vintage motorcycles, the dealership will sell new Ural brand motorcycles from Russia, Beta motorcycles from Italy, and Gas Gas motorcycles from Spain, he says.

"We're really trying to be a small and intimate shop, a place to hang out and get to know everyone on a first-name basis," Gates says.

He says the dealership is looking to hire a few people, including mechanics and salespeople, but expects to grow gradually.

Steve Peterson, of Coldwell Banker Tomlinson North, negotiated the lease for STEX. Mark McLees, of NAI Black Commercial, and Chris Batten, of RenCorp, represented the building's owner.

—Kim Crompton

Chimney, stove shop opens on North Side
Troy Parker and Korey Smith, of Spokane, have opened Spokane Chimney Doctors on the city's North Side.

The business, located in a 1,300-square-foot leased space at 3906 N. Nevada, began offering services last month, and its showroom will open in mid-July.

The space is getting an $8,000 remodel, and Parker and Smith are doing the work themselves.

Parker, who owned Spokane Chimney & Masonry Inc. for 15 years, says the business works with both resident and commercial customers, offering chimney cleaning , repairs, and inspections. It also sells and installs wood, gas, and pellet stoves, and offers custom masonry service.

Parker and Smith are the business's only employees, but Parker says they hope to hire up to 15 people within the year as business increases.

Spokane Chimney & Masonry closed a year ago.

—Audrey Danals