The story of a Spokane venture started by a self-described homebody begins a half a world away.It was early 2000 when Pete Smith founded the business, called Mainstream Watergarden Construction, out of his Spokane home. Instead of relying on and

LOI Distributing Inc., a Lakewood, Wash.-based discount retailer that operates the Dollar Store chain, plans to open its third store here and is looking into eventually opening three more outlets in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area.Bill LOI vice

Inland Construction Co., of Spokane, plans to develop a $4 million, 54-unit apartment complex on Spokanes South Hill, five blocks south of the Cedar Canyon Shopping Center.Darin Davidson, a spokesman for Inland Construction, says site work for

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is moving forward with plans to remodel and significantly expand its Spokane Valley store into whats called a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which involves adding a full-service supermarket to the stores retail mix.The big, chain

Companies headed by prominent Spokane developer Dick Vandervert have two big West Plains apartment projects in the works that are to include 870 living units and are to be built at a total cost of nearly $56 million.Work already is under way on

National Church Residences, a Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit provider of housing for low-income seniors, is developing a 25-unit apartment complex for such residents in the Spokane Valley, its second such complex here.White Water Creek Inc., a a

Janek Co., a Spokane real estate company that has specialized in marketing high-end homes, has closed all of its four offices in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.Jan Ekstrom, the companys founder and president, says she closed Janeks this

Borders Books & Music is coming to Spokane.Borders Group Inc., which owns the big bookstore chain, has leased a 23,000-square-foot retail space in the Northpointe Plaza shopping center, on Spokanes North Side, for its first Spokane-area store,

Already slowed by high fuel prices and a sluggish national economy, trucking companies say surging insurance rates have slapped a jake brake on their profit margins.Some Spokane-area trucking companies report that their liability-insurance have

Skippers Inc., the Edmonds, Wash.-based quick-service seafood restaurant chain, has leased sites for two new outlets in Spokane and is negotiating to have a structure built for a third new store here.The three new Skippers Seafood & Chowder