Einstein Bros. Bagels franchisee Matthew Schmidt has opened a bagel shop in the newly completed Peppertree Plaza at the northwest corner of Third Avenue and Division Street that’s his second in the Spokane area and his third overall.

Schmidt says he’s looking at possibly opening two more shops in the Spokane area and two in Boise, Idaho, although that might take some time.

“I really want to make sure the locations we choose are convenient and easy to find,” he says. “It may take us five years or so to get those locations going, but hopefully it will be much sooner than that.”  

The new 2,700-square-foot shop, which opened mid-March, serves bagels, sandwiches, sweets, and snacks, as well as coffee and other beverages. Schmidt says the number of employees per location varies, but each shop usually has at least 15 staff members. 

“Our first location was so busy we needed a second one to take on some of that business,” Schmidt says. Also playing into the decision to open a second outlet here, he says, is that “the customers have been so very welcoming, and we’ve really enjoyed doing business here.” 

Schmidt’s other Einstein Bros. Bagels stores are located at 1601 N. Division and in Missoula, Mont. The North Division store opened two years ago, one year after the Missoula shop opened. 

Schmidt says the only other Einstein Bagels location in Spokane is on the Gonzaga campus, at 502 E. Boone. That shop isn’t part of his franchise, but instead is operated through a license agreement program that allows for its products to be sold at universities and airports, among other such locations.

Although he lives in Missoula, Schmidt visits Spokane every couple of weeks to check on the business. He says his brother, Mark, lives here and oversees the day-to-day operations at the two shops.

Einstein Bros. Bagels is a bagel and coffee chain launched in 1995 by Boston Chicken, now called Boston Market. The Colorado-based chain now is operated by Einstein & Noah Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc.