Tacoma Screw Products plans store in Idaho Falls

Demolition of the old Plaza Lanes bowling alley should begin sometime this spring to make way for Tacoma Screw Products' store and distribution center.

Tacoma Screw Products, a 66-year-old company with 15 stores in the Pacific Northwest, has bought the old Plaza Lanes property at 1811 North Yellowstone Avenue in Idaho Falls.

A cyclone fence has been set up around the lot, at the corner of North Yellowstone and Hemmert Drive. After the contents have been salvaged the old buildings will be razed.

Founded in 1946 in Tacoma, Wash., Tacoma Screw Products specializes in the distribution of fasteners, tools and maintenance, shop and industrial supplies.With an inventory of more than 45,000 products, it provides service to more than 40,000 business customers. These include retail, manufacturing, construction, transportation, aerospace, maritime, agricultural, food processing, recreational, institutional operations, and city, county, state, and federal governmental agencies. When customers need custom or special fasteners that are oversized, require special threading or bending, the company has a machine shop to fabricate them.

In Idaho, the company has two branch locations, in Boise and Twin Falls.

More information can be found at the company's Web site, http://www.tacomascrew.com.

Downtown I.F. pastry shop eyes opening Monday, March 11

La Vanilla Bean Patisserie owner Kay Lynn Broadhead, right, and baker Jessica Carson. 

La Vanilla Bean Patisserie in downtown Idaho Falls has set next Monday as the date for a soft opening.

Owner Kay Lynn Broadhead said they are testing the two gas convection ovens and getting staff trained this week at the corner bakery, which is at 489 Park Avenue, across B Street from Pachanga's.

Although she had hoped to open earlier, time has been her friend, she said. "It took a little longer than I though it would, but that has turned out to be good. We've been able to learn about food service and build relationships."

Broadhead and her baker, Jessica Carson, will be focusing on European style pastries (tarts, torts, Napoleons, eclairs, scones), and will also provide coffee, specialty cakes and lunch. On bread they are being joined by Jackie Cook, whom Broadhead met at culinary school.

Store hours will be 7 a.m to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Hours on Friday and Saturday will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Telephone is (208) 881-5176. Here's the link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Vanilla-Bean/340374779404337?fref=ts

Broadhead was a communications professor at Idaho State University for 20 years before she took early retirement in 2010 to attend the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vt. When she returned to Idaho her plan was to do business in Boise. But the storefront she thought she had lined up went to someone else, and when she started looking at other Idaho locations she was approached by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Development Corp.

"I've got a very good feeling about what's happening with the downtown here," she said.

Pioneer Road now links Sunnyside with Utah Avenue

Pioneer Road now connects to Utah Avenue, providing a straight shot under the Pancheri overpass and south to Sunnyside Road.

If you're looking for a straight shot from the middle of Idaho Falls to Sunnyside Road, Pioneer Road is now open and there is hardly anyone using it. All you need to do is go south on Utah Avenue past Wal-Mart. You'll see a sign on the right, where Arctic Circle now is.

Until last year, Pioneer connected Pancheri Drive with Sunnyside, cutting through farmland. When the new Pancheri overpass was finished last year, however, Pioneer was routed underneath it and over to Utah Avenue.

The road is going to become a lot more important once the Idaho Falls Event Center is built and running. Since it's old blacktop, widening and repaving are likely to be in order.

The land for the event center at Snake River Landing was recommended for annexation into the city at the last Idaho Falls Falls Planning Commission meeting. The matter now goes for a vote by the City Council, and if it is approved the Idaho Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau will be able submit a plat. If the center opens as planned in 2014, Pioneer Road will be one of the main routes to it from Sunnyside Road.

By then, the new Teton Volkswagen dealership ought to be finished. Brian Tomsett of the Idaho Falls Building Department said sign contractor inquiries he's been getting indicate Panda Express is interested in building on the corner of Utah and Pioneer Road.

Bill's Bike Shop plans March 15 opening for new store

There are still plenty of bikes on the showroom floor at Bill's Bike Shop on Holmes Avenue, but within a month they will have been moved to the new store at Snake River Landing, scheduled to open March 15.

Bill's Bike Shop has set a date of March 15 for the soft opening of its new 10,000-square-foot store at Snake River Landing.

Sales associate Darrell Byerly said they will start moving the clothing and accessories this weekend to shelves that are already in place at the new store. The sign in front of the Holmes Avenue store, where Bill's has been since 1987, says the building is available for lease.

Owner Gary Wight bought the business in 2010 from Stan Murdock, whose family had owned Bill's since 1947. The new building will be a full-service bicycle shop from the ground up, with rooms for meetings and classes and a service department that will help them keep up with the massive amount of repair work they do.


When it came to finding a bike-friendly location, Snake River Landing, with its miles of paved trails and access to the Idaho Falls Greenbelt, presented itself as an ideal place. A 400-acre, master-planned community on the west bank of the Snake River between Pancheri Drive and Sunnyside Road, Snatke River Landing includes stores, offices, restaurants and homes in a development that includes parks, trails and water features.

"I wanted to be where it was bicycle friendly," Wight said.

Local banks announce promotions

There were two new promotions in the local banking sector, announced in press releases this past week.

Wells Fargo & Co. has named Grant Nelson its new business banking manager, serving the Idaho Falls and Pocatello markets.

With more than 25 years of experience at the bank, Nelson previously served as a senior business relationship manager in Burley. He also is a former manager of Wells Fargo's St. Anthony and Rexburg branches. Nelson was Southeast Idaho District manager in 2010 and was named to his most recent position as a senior business relationship manager in 2011.

He is a graduate of Utah State University in Logan, Utah, with a degree in agriculture education. He also has a master's degree in adult education from the University of Idaho.

D.L. Evans Bank has announced the appointment of Dee Darrington to investment representative for eastern Idaho. Darrington has a bachelor's degree in economics from Utah State University and an MBA from Idaho State University.

He has more than 16 years of experience in investment consulting and has been in banking for 19 years.