Norm's News gets makeover

After a four-day makeover in mid-February and a sigh of relief it’s over, Norm’s News is back to business as usual.

The project installed new flooring and new tables and chairs in the downtown Kalispell eatery that dates back to 1938.

“We closed early on a Saturday and got everything out of here. Everything,” Beth Pirrie said of the project at the family-owned and family-run business.

That meant taking out all the old tables, chairs and counter seating, plus kitchen equipment and racks holding more than 1,000 magazine titles and containers holding almost as many different candies.

“The floor had been redone a couple times,” Pirrie said. “This project was to do all of it, all the subfloor, so everything is all one level and made of the same material.”  

The main restaurant area was back together and up and running by noon the following Tuesday.

Flooring work in the bathrooms, back hallways, storerooms and offices kept crews busy through the rest of the week.

The business’s regulars seem happy with the change.

“Any time you say you’re going to change something in an establishment that’s been here for this long, people perk up and are gripping the handles of their chairs,” Pirrie said.

But they gladly offered their views and feedback for the project.

And Pirrie assured customers not too much would change: The business would close for a couple days to get spruced up and they’d come back to find new seats that would be a little more cushy to sit in.

“It’s been very positive,” she said of the response.

A low-interest loan from one of the city of Kalispell’s revolving loan funds helped make the project a go.

Seeded with grant money years ago, the program lends money for commercial property owners to fix up their buildings. As loans are paid back with interest, the revolving fund grows.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for businesses,” Pirrie said. “It’s there and I think a lot of people don’t know it’s there.”

FOR NOW, Pirrie said she and others are glad to be done with the business’s interior fix-up and moving on to its usual “sweeter” pursuits.

Known for its soda fountain, milkshakes, floats, burgers and fries and massive magazine and candy selections, Norm’s News also has a new machine to start making homemade fudge this spring.

“That’ll be the next project. We’re hoping to have it up and going by the end of March,” Pirrie said.

“I would think we’d have five or six kinds right off the bat, pick it up a bit in the summer and see what the favorites are and how things go.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.