Russ Nobbs never liked what he calls big business. In fact, he still doesnt like it, even though hes now at the helm of a company that does millions of dollars in sales a year. Nobbs and his wife, Dee Mueller, own Rings & Things, a bead

Delivery Express Inc., a growing Seattle-based courier service, plans to establish a branch in Spokane next year, says Dave Hamilton, its founder and CEO.The 6-year-old business, which the Puget Sound Business Journal recently listed among the

Starbucks Corp., of Seattle, has leased a building at 2703 N. Division that formerly housed a Walgreen Co. express pharmacy and plans to open its 12th Spokane-area coffee shop there next month.The 1,600-square-foot building is at the corner

Longtime Spokane bank executive John Wagner has been named president of Spokane Valley-based Farmers & Merchants Bank, where hes charged with expanding the bank aggressively. Wagner, 53, retired last month as president of Bank of Americas

Coeur dAlene Mines Corp. says it will increase its mining activity in Idahos Silver Valley if exploration currently under way there yields positive results.The Coeur dAlene-based company said in its third-quarter earnings release that it

Purcell Systems Inc., of Liberty Lake, has quadrupled the production capacity at its manufacturing facility here in an effort to handle soaring sales volumes.Rick Varnell, Purcells vice president of sales, says the companys sales this year

The Grinch who stole the holiday shopping season for the last couple of years seems to have retreated out of Whovilleor out of the Spokane area, anyway, some economic observers and retailers here say.Strong holiday sales are expected here in

POST FALLSWhen Bob Templin decided to build a hotel and resort on the banks of the Spokane River here in the mid-1980s, Post Falls was a bedroom community with so little happening that its City Hall was open just three days a week. On the of

Spokane-area businesses, battered by several straight years of mostly double-digit percentage increases in group health-plan premiums, will have to find ways to cope with more of the same next year. Benefits consultants and representatives of a

Iron Bridge LLC has secured a tenant to take most of the first building at its Iron Bridge Corporate Campus and hopes to start work soon on $30 million in additional structures at the largely undeveloped office park along the Spokane River east of