Harbor Freight Tools, a California-based tool retailer that operates a store in Spokane Valley, says it plans to open its second Spokane store, on the North Side.


The Camarillo, Calif., company plans to open the new store in mid-May in a roughly 17,000-square-foot leased space at 6506 N. Nevada, near an Albertsons Inc. supermarket, says Perry Tirrell, the companys Kent, Wash.-based district manager. The chain is hiring about 20 employees to work at the new store, he says.


Harbor Freight Tools carries products ranging from hand tools to machinery to cleaning supplies, for both do-it-yourselfers and professionals.


The specialty discount retailer entered the Spokane market in 1998 with an outlet in the Valley. That store is located at 15312 E. Sprague and employs about 30 people, Tirrell says.


That store is one of the top five stores in the company in sales, he says. Its hard for customers to travel across the city, so were just trying to make it more convenient for them.


The North Side outlet will be Harbor Freight Tools eighth in Washington and 296th companywide, he says. Its looking at opening other outlets in the region, including in Coeur dAlene and Lewiston, Idaho, he says.


Contact Emily Proffitt at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyp@spokanejournal.com.