Coldwater Creek Inc., the Sandpoint, Idaho-based catalog retailer, plans to open a new $6 million facility in Coeur dAlenewhich it says will be completed by next falland move its Coeur dAlene call center there from leased quarters elsewhere in the city.


In a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the publicly traded company says it has negotiated the purchase of real estate for the project. The project would be financed using the companys established bank lines of credit and would allow for additional growth, the company says.


John Morrison, Coldwater Creeks controller, declines to say where the site is located or to provide other details. I think it would be premature, he says.


The companys current Coeur dAlene call center, which is located at 1201 Ironwood Drive, opened in 1996, Morrison says, adding that hes uncertain exactly how many people work in the facility now. In a prospectus filed a year ago, the company said the center had 195 phone stations, compared with 120 in its call center in Sandpoint.


As the company grows, the company expects the majority of calls to be directed to the Coeur dAlene call center to take advantage of its larger facilities and labor pool and the facilitys extensive rerouting capabilities, Coldwater Creek said in the prospectus.


For the quarter ended Nov. 29, Coldwater Creek posted net income of $4.3 million, down from $4.7 million in the 96 quarter. The company markets its nature-related merchandise primarily through catalogs. It also has retail stores in Sandpoint and Jackson Hole, Wyo. In addition, the company plans to open a distribution center in West Virginia.