Method Juice Cafe to open at River Park Square

 

This week River Park Square announced via their social media pages that local favorite, Method Juice Cafe will open for business there this November. Method was created from a simple belief that healthy food and drinks should be both genuinely good for you and something you actually look forward to enjoying. It has always aimed to be a place that brings together fresh, quality ingredients, great people and a sense of community. The menu features smoothies, acai bowls, rice bowls, Method Curry, salads, wraps, cold-presses juices, avocado toast and more, with gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan options throughout. 

"Opening in River Park Square is such an exciting next step for us. Downtown Spokane has always felt like and important part of our community, and we're incredibly happy to Method closer to the heart of it. The new space will allow us to not only serve more customers throughout the day but also expand out catering offerings and create more opportunities for businesses, events and organizations to bring fresh, healthy food and drinks to their teams and guests. " said Alicia Newman, owner of Method Juice Cafe.

Method is currently expected to open in River Park Square on Sunday, November 15th, 2026 (currently... check with the to confirm as delays can happen) on the first floor of the Downtown shopping center. The space was once a long-term restaurant called Rock City Grill and most recently a restaurant called MacDaddy's. MacDaddy's did not completely close down as they are only downsizing and will actually also open soon, this time on the third floor, in the food court of the mall.

For more information on Method Juice Cafe, visit their website- https://methodjuicecafe.com

Bricks & Beans brings unique coffee and Lego concept

 

Here's a business combination that has hit written all over it. Bricks & Beans officially opened recently at 510 S. Pines Rd. in Spokane Valley and is a locally owned and operated coffee shop with Lego included. Customers of Bricks & Beans can enjoy an area to come in, build sets and play Lego themed games. The even have a retail area of used and new sets, that can also be put together in the new shop.

Additionally, there is a bulk Lego area, build your own mini fig and some special mini figs for sale. Coffee shop wise Bricks & Beans has a menu of coffee drinks, Lotus and Italian Sodas, Matcha, Assorted Teas and Chai. Food wise they also will carry some pastries.

In the future Bricks & Beans tells me they plan to host events in their space such as family nights, adult build nights, etc... for more information on what's new at Bricks & Beans follow them in social media via Instagram or Facebook

Little Roots Play Space opening soon in Spokane Valley

 

A new locally owned and operated play cafe is coming soon to the Valley. A place for adults to grab coffee and or a treat for themselves while their young kids play. This new business will be called Little Roots Play Space and is under construction now in a 1300 square foot space at 1521 N. Argonne Rd. Suite F.

Little Roots Play Space is planning to open for business sometime this fall, with an official opening date announced in the near future on their social media pages. The adult visitors will be able to get coffee drinks or a small food selection that will include pastries, charcuterie style boxes and some other grab and go options. While they're younger guests, ages 0-7, play in an area that includes a play bakery/cafe, a market, hospital, fire station with a slide and a construction play zone. 

There will even be space for crawlers and infants, and a room perfect for birthday parties. For more information on Little Roots Play Space, give them a follow-on Instagram .

Garland Clayground to open in the Garland District

 

A new locally owned and operated pottery business is coming soon to the Garland District in Spokane. Garland Clayground will be a community pottery studio where people of all experience levels can create with clay. They'll offer wheel-throwing and hand-building classes, memberships, workshops, date nights, and one-time pottery experiences. This new business will be located at 815 W. Garland Ave.

The space there is currently under construction, but they hope to open sometime this fall. An official opening date will be announced soon on their social media pages. The space will also contain a small retail area to purchase completed pieces and other handmade works.

For more information on Garland Clayground, check out their website at https://garlandclayground.com/ or give them a follow-on Facebook or Instagram

Sephora planning new store in North Spokane

 

Sephora, a Paris,France based beauty retailer has filed building permits for a new store in North Spokane's North Pointe Plaza shopping center along Newport Hwy. This would be the third Sephora location in the Spokane area as other stores are already open and operating in River Park Square and Spokane Valley Mall. There is also another Sephora within the Kohl's store at Northtown Mall all in Spokane.

The new Sephora store doesn't have an opening date as of my writing this but will be located in a 5,359 square foot space on the southern end of the shopping center. The new store will actually be a next-door neighbor to the newly opened Nordstrom Rack store that is about to open also in the center. Sephora also sells online via their website https://sephora.com

New Country bar planned in Downtown Coeur d' Alene

 

This last week the owners behind, The Beacon, a popular bar in Downtown Coeur d' Alene announced that they would be opening a new country themed bar and dance hall. And, this new place will be located just one block south of The Beacon by the corner of N. 4th and Front (115 N. 4th St.)

This new place will be called Kickers and will feature live music, line dancing and what they describe as "all of your favorite beers and cocktails". Work is underway on Kickers although an exact opening date has yet to be announced. They will occupy the space that was Wigget's Antiques for a long time and most recently a virtual reality business.

Keep track of the progress on the Kickers opening, give them a follow-on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kickerscda_/

The Lilac Room opens in Downtown Spokane

 

A classy new bar with a unique feature has opened up on the eastern side of Downtown Spokane. From the same owners and in the same block as the Spokane Comedy Club and Gamers Arcade Bar is now The Lilac Room. 

Located at 319 W. Sprague Ave., The Lilac Room is an upscale cocktail bar with a feature they call the "Lilac Express" a pneumatic tube system that delivers the customers drinks from the bartender directly to your table. This is only the second such delivery system in a bar in the country. In addition to their cocktails served thru the tube system they also serve a menu of beer and wine and will feature live music from time to time. Check their social media pages for schedules.

With the addition of The Lilac Room, the same owners say they have added a few more games next door as well as Gamers Arcade Bar, which as the name implies is a bar with arcade and pinball games, plus pop-a-shot and air hockey. And, with some large names also always coming up nearby at The Spokane Comedy Club, this block of Downtown Spokane is perfect for most any night out. For more information on The Lilac Room, visit their website at https://www.lilacspokane.com/

15 years of Inland Northwest Business Watch

 This past week this site, Inland Northwest Business Watch past 15 years in existence, so I (Matt Behringer) just wanted to come on here and say Thank You! Thank you for reading the site, interacting with the social media pages, the emails, donations, sponsorships, the ones telling others of things your saw on here...to everyone just thank you!

In 2011 I started this just for fun off my weird obsession of keeping track of what was being built and/or opening where. For instance, I loved trying to restaurants but found at the time there wasn't very many ways to find them until they started advertising or some word of mouth started spreading. But those businesses, especially the small ones could use some help getting off the ground and I found there we're a lot of noisy people out there like myself. It was a match made in Heaven. 

Today, there's a few real estate agents and influencers sharing about the same stuff I am, and in much more up to date ways like TikTok and Instagram Reels (although I'm often still first). But I'm not stopping and I still love what I'm doing, although I also think the site hasn't grown much in some time. Maybe I'm crazy but a good scoop can make an entire day for me. 

I also enjoy seeing how this niche has evolved, when I started reporting on construction and business news, in Spokane and the Inland Northwest there was just me and a similar newspaper column in the Coeur d' Alene Press. I'd guess there we're not more than 10 sites/blogs like this in the nation, and now most major markets have one. Ranging from little hobby sites or social media pages to a couple with full newsrooms. Here's a few I want to mention:

Marysville & Arlington Retail News Curious about new places in Marysville & Arlington, WA? This up-and-coming page is your go to source https://www.facebook.com/marysville.arlington.retail.news/

Cheyenne, WY based blogger Optopolis (https://optopolis.blogspot.com/) recently took to leap into what he calls a "print blog" named Cheyenne's Retail Minute, (https://linktr.ee/RetailMinute) covering new places around Cheyenne and surrounding communities and available to be picked up at a number of locations.

Although they dabble into other news including politics, one of the largest sites and most well done in this niche is defiantly Boise's BoiseDev (https://boisedev.com) . They actually are celebrating 10 years in business! Congratulations to Don Day and your team if you see this!

So, what's next for Inland Northwest Business Watch? The same coverage of new businesses, restaurants and construction projects in Spokane and Kootenai County that you expect. I'm not a full-time resident of the area anymore (left for Ohio in 2023) but wouldn't ever want to give this up, my connections, sources and just the internet make it possible. This blog is my passion project and quite frankly Spokane gets a bad rap but it's my happy place and I want to keep promoting it. Spokane has an amazing business and culinary community that should get as much of a lime light as possible.

If you know of a place that's worth coverage on Inland Northwest Business Watch or a tip on something coming to the Spokane and Coeur d' Alene area, send me an email anytime to matt.behringer@inlandnwbusiness.com . 

And, yes I take donations, I know so does everyone else and they're not required but I'll do a happy dance for each one. If it's big enough, maybe I'll record it too! 

Page for donations:      https://inlandbusiness2.blogspot.com/

And, last but not least thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of the Inland Northwest Business Watch family!!!

Front Room Art Gallery opens in Downtown Spokane

 

Courtesy photos from the recent ribbon cutting of Front Room, provided by the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

Front Room Art Gallery, a new locally owned contemporary art gallery has joined the growing Spokane Arts community, bringing a fresh space for discovering high-quality fine art to the city's developing West Spokane Arts District. Located at 115 S. Adams Suite 6, Front Room's location adds another arts-focused destination to an area that is solidifying itself as a hub of Spokane arts and culture, moving in alongside coffee and vintage shop Drip Drip, the newly expanded Big City Art Gallery, and the ongoing mural & neon sign project, Vintage Alley.

Front Room Art Gallery is the 14th new business that has opened in Downtown Spokane this year. Founded by Chels Cordova in partnership with Kelly Baker, the gallery represents a new chapter for Cordova, who has spent several years working in the arts industry, most recently with Art Spirit Gallery. After moving to Spokane, Cordova quickly became involved in the region's vibrant arts community and developed a vision for creating a professional contemporary gallery of her own.

For more information on the new Front Room Art Gallery, check out their website at https://www.frontroomartgallery.com/

ATC Manufacturing breaks ground on expansion in Post Falls

 

Towards the end of August 2026, ATC Manufacturing broke ground on a 57,635-square-foot expansion of its Post Falls facility. This was a milestone that builds on the company's recent contract award from the Air Force Research Laboratory for large-scale, high-rate, thermoplastic composite aircraft structures. 

Baker Construction is the general contractor for the expansion project with architectural design work being done by Bernardo Wills Architects. The expansion is currently scheduled to be completed by the Summer of 2027 with ATC indicating they already have a number of projects lined up expecting to fill up capacity of the expansion quickly. 

The expansion will create dozens of new jobs at ATC's Post Falls facility, including mechanical engineers, project engineering, entry and mid-skilled tradesman roles. View the open positions on ATC'S website at http://atcmanufacturing.com/careers