Articles by Wendy Culverwell
Great Floors sells real estate portfolio, including Kennewick store
Great Floors, the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based flooring chain, sold five locations in a $33 million sale-leaseback deal that includes its Kennewick location. The portfolio also included Great Floors stores in Coeur d’Alene, Spokane Valley, Lacey and Yakima. The buyers were mostly 1031-exchange investors from California and Western Washington – meaning they were reinvesting proceeds from…
Bookwalter launches Fable so Fiction restaurant can soar
Bookwalter Winery is expanding its dining business in service of a lofty goal. Owner John Bookwalter wants to transform the Richland winery’s Fiction restaurant into a top-drawer establishment worthy of the industry’s highest honor. To do it, he’s opening a new restaurant in the former R.F. McDougall’s Irish Pub & Eatery to serve as a…
Public market readies for its Kennewick debut
There have been plenty of efforts to bring a public market to the Tri-Cities. But after years of talk, an all-private effort with 70 vendors, including Ice Harbor Brewery and Columbia Industries’ Opportunity Kitchen, is about to open in Kennewick. The Public Market @ Columbia River Warehouse is set to debut its first phase in…
Columbia Industries sells records division, goes deep on service mission
Columbia Industries, a Kennewick nonprofit that funds its mission to serve people with special needs by operating a series of for-profit businesses, has sold its records business as it shifts to deepen its impact. Memphis, Tennessee-based Vital Records Control (VRC) purchased the records side of CI Information Management in a deal finalized on March 1.…
Frost Me Sweet plans national deliveries, milkshake drive-thru
Richland’s Frost Me Sweet Bistro & Bakery is casting off the lingering effects of the pandemic by adding a new bakery, as well as a drive-thru cake-shake business on Wellsian Way. The new location will provide much-needed workspace for Frost Me Sweet’s bakers while allowing owners Megan and Jason Savely to make a business out…
Ex-husband of state senator sued over bankruptcy debt
A Tri-City executive is being sued in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by a creditor seeking more than $1 million for an outstanding loan balance, interest and legal fees. The case against Fraser S. Hawley, a developer and business leader who was married to state Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, is set to go to trial May 9…
Business community sighs with relief as Legislature wraps for 2022
The Tri-City business community is breathing easier as the 2022 Legislature concluded its work without passing bills some feared would add complexity and cost to operating in Washington. The regular session ended March 10 in a flurry of activity, including an agreement on a $64.1 billion supplemental budget. But it’s what didn’t happen that stands…
Petersen Hastings shifts to a new generation of leadership
Jeff Petersen retires on March 31 after more than 20 years as CEO of Petersen Hastings, the Tri-Cities wealth management firm established by his late father, Jim Petersen, in 1962. Scott Sarber a longtime member of the team and partner, steps up to the role of president and CEO. While Petersen said he intends to…
Hospitality industry is on the rebound, but how much is still unknown
Michael Novakovich, president and CEO of Visit Tri-Cities, is looking forward to May, which is when the tourism agency he leads expects to finalize the economic impact of tourism on the local economy in 2021. After a pandemic-battered showing in 2020, signs of revival will be welcome news to an industry that posted a record…
WSU Study: Workplace culture can hurt, or help, with staffing issues
A gaming lounge at Columbia Center is closed with a handwritten note in the window: Closed because of staffing issues. It’s one small sign that the Great Resignation is in full force in the Tri-Cities, disproportionately affecting the hospitality and visitor sector. As Michael Novakovich, CEO of Visit Tri-Cities reports, local hotels have struggled to…
