Rodda Paint Co., of Portland, has leased the former Spokane Chrysler showroom building in Spokane Valley and plans to move one of its Spokane outlets there in coming months.

Vince Saccheri, Rodda's Spokane-based regional operations manager, says the building at 6818 E. Sprague has about 12,000 square feet of floor space and is about twice the size of the store it will replace, which is located at 5417 E. Broadway.

Saccheri says the company hopes to open the new store Jan. 1, but it still is waiting to receive a building permit to complete tenant improvements there. Once all permits are in hand, he says the remodel will take 45 days to complete.

The store is expected to serve as a regional hub for Rodda Paint, Saccheri says.

"The main reason is to increase our visibility in the Spokane market," he says. "This will be more retail friendly."

Rodda traditionally has sold predominately to contractors. At the Broadway store, for example, about 95 percent of the company's sales are commercial, and 5 percent are residential, Saccheri says. He hopes that with the new store, the percentage of sales to retail customers will increase.

Also, he says, the new site has substantially more parking than the Broadway store. The company has a handful of parking spaces at its current location, and it has about 200 slots at the old Spokane Chrysler location.

Construction Associates of Spokane Inc. is the general contractor that will handle the tenant improvements. Saccheri says he doesn't know yet the total cost of the tenant improvements.

The Valley store is one of three Rodda Paint operates in the Inland Northwest. The others are located at 8117 N. Division, on Spokane's North Side, and at 6456 N. Government Way, in Dalton Gardens, Idaho.

The company currently employs about 20 people at the three stores, including eight at the Valley shop. Saccheri says he expects to hire a couple of additional employees for the new store once it's up and running.

In all, Rodda Paint operates 48 stores in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Alaska.