Designer digs
Piney Creek Interiors’ display space will expand considerably when the business moves in April to the 100 Central building, the former Flanagan’s Central Station, in downtown Whitefish. Piney Creek Interiors’ display space will expand considerably when the business moves in April to the 100 Central building, the former Flanagan’s Central Station, in downtown Whitefish. Piney Creek Interiors’ display space will expand considerably when the business moves in April to the 100 Central building, the former Flanagan’s Central Station, in downto…
Piney Creek Interiors owner Deena Brenden opened her business in Whitefish in 2002.
A pedestrian walks past the former Flanagan’s Central Station building in Whitefish.
A prominent building in downtown Whitefish is about to be reborn.
Piney Creek Interiors has signed a lease with the Western Montana Real Estate Fund to take over the former Flanagan’s Central Station building at 100 Central Avenue in Whitefish.
The new location will allow Piney Creek Interiors’ owner Deena Brenden to feature a 3,000-square-foot design center as well as a massive showroom. She will make the move in mid-April. The shop at 505 Railway is open for business until then.
With the new space, there will be more customization available. Brenden plans to stock new samples that push beyond the styles she has offered in the past. It’s this that she and her staff are looking forward to the most.
“We’ll have more room for people to come and work on projects with us, by themselves, or with their own designers,” Brenden said. “With the extra space, we’ll all be able to spread out and get creative without tripping over one another.”
Piney Creek Interiors currently has five employees, but Brenden plans to expand her staff at the larger venue.
The excitement of creating the perfect atmosphere for living and relaxing at home is what fuels interior designers like Brenden.
“There’s nothing else I’d rather do,” she said.
Since opening Piney Creek Interiors in downtown Whitefish in 2002, Brenden has forged a niche for design work. About 60 percent of her daily business is homeowners looking for help in designing the perfect home.
“Most of my time is spent working on design,” she said.
And for the past seven years, she’s squeezed her samples into a tiny 250-square-foot loft space above the showroom floor, forcing her to focus on just a few styles and tightly edit her customers’ options simply due to a lack of space.
BRENDEN acknowledges that with continued economic challenges in the housing market, it seems like an unusual time to be expanding a home decor and design business. But she believes the dire situation helped her to be able to make the move.
“Talk about making opportunity out of a bad situation,” she said. “We’ve been on the lookout for more space for years. My business adviser told me to brace myself for the downturn that was going to happen in 2009, but to be ready for a move in 2010.”
On a random afternoon, Brenden took a drive down Central Avenue and saw a “For Lease” sign in front of the former nightclub, vacant since the state shut it down in 2007 for multiple liquor-law violations.
“I thought, ‘What the heck,’ called and made an offer,” she said.
Western Montana Real Estate Fund, the owner of the building, had been considering partitioning the building for multiple tenants before Brenden said she’d take the full space.
Jackola Engineering & Architecture worked with Hammerquist Casalegno on the facade redesign, which began in May. The distinctive I-beam exterior trim was removed as well as the upper balcony to bring the building more in line with the aesthetic of the rest of downtown.
Anchoring the southwest corner of Central Avenue and First Street, the sizable two-story building opened in 2000 as Julio’s Coaches Corner featuring a restaurant and sports bar. Jim Flanagan bought the business in 2004 and operated it as a nightclub until it closed in 2007.
“They did such a wonderful job on remodeling the exterior of the building,” Brenden said about the Western Montana Real Estate Fund’s renovation. “We feel it will be a great reflection of what we’ll be doing on the inside.”
Local contractor Rory Schwalk will complete the interior remodeling.
Brenden will increase her inventory of locally produced merchandise as well as artwork, mirrors, lighting and accessories. She also will offer more gift options.
“I’m really looking forward to being more of a part of the downtown community,” Brenden said.
She attributes the success of her shop to the support of other business owners in the area. She said she doesn’t think twice about sending her customers to another store down the street if she doesn’t have what they need, and she’s received some of her own customers through recommendations from other business owners as well.
“It’s one of the great things about being from a small town,” she said. “We’re all in this together.”
“This community has always been supportive of me — from raising me up when I was a kid growing up in Whitefish, to supporting my business through this economy. For that I will be forever grateful.”
Reporter Erika Hoefer may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at ehoefer@dailyinterlake.com