MeadowBrook finds new home on Cedar Street Bridge

SANDPOINT— MeadowBrook Home and Gift’s name may provoke images of small streams, but it’s a creek that stands to bring in the big bucks for the business — specifically, Sand Creek.

 The store recently completed its short-distance move to the Cedar Street Bridge, a shopping venue constructed over Lake Pend Oreille tributary Sand Creek. Now that the renovations are complete and the business is reopened, co-owners Eric Blomdahl and Angie Obie expect to gain plenty of tourists and regulars alike thanks to their prime location in Sandpoint’s pedestrian-friendly downtown.

Holding a reputation as a provider of upscale decor, the five-year-old furniture store also features small novelties and gifts aimed at souvenir-seeking tourists. Blomdahl says that already, they’ve enjoyed a business boost thanks to the out-of-town crowd.

“The difference in foot traffic has just been night and day,” Blomdahl said. “Our previous location catered to Sandpoint residents who knew about the store.”

After purchasing a commercial condominium space in the shopping center, Blomdahl and Obie temporarily closed MeadowBrook, moving their merchandise while renovating the new venue. They made good time and completed the work in four days.

“We were really happy that we managed to lose less than a week’s worth of business,” Blomdahl said.

Blomdahl says he and Obie are extremely pleased with the location change already, but it only stands to improve with the construction of the byway. That proposed addition will divert highway traffic away from downtown, making the area even easier to hoof around. That’s when they expect to rake in maximum benefits, especially during tourism seasons.

“But we also just really love the bridge,” Blomdahl said. “There’s only one other shopping center over water in the world, and that’s in Italy. This place has something special.”

But only a few years ago, the situation at the bridge wasn’t nearly so rosy by anyone’s accounting. During the 2008 holiday season, a frozen pipe burst, inflicting serious damage to both the interior and its tenants’ bottom lines.

After repairing the damage, Cedar Street Bridge owners John Gillham and Jeff Bond decided to parcel the building into commercial condominiums. Businesses have begun filling the venue into a thriving commercial center once again.

“There’re nothing but 100 percent positive response to this move,” Blomdahl said. “Everyone wants the bridge to work out.”