Four Tenants Moving Into New Commercial Development In Idaho Falls. Here's Who They Are

Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.

BIZ BUZZ

IDAHO FALLS

Here’s who’s moving into new commercial development in Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS – A new commercial development owned by Riverbend Management at Ammon and Lincoln roads in Bonneville County has some tenants.

Construction Solutions Company began work on the empty strip south of the new McDonald’s last fall. After months of looking for tenants to lease the space, Devin Belnap, Riverbend’s vice president of development, says four tenants have signed a lease on the building.

In a recent email to EastIdahoNews.com, Belnap said the businesses moving in are Marco’s Pizza, Stella’s Ice Cream, Soda Barn and Fit 1.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to each of the business owners for comment. They are all excited at the prospect of serving customers in a neighborhood with so much growth. It was that aspect that brought them to this particular location.

Marco’s Pizza

The sign for Marco’s Pizza is already up in the space closest to McDonald’s. Tamarah Smith owns the business with her husband, Bill. They’re planning to open on June 11 and have a ribbon-cutting and grand opening on June 18.

They’re excited to serve customers at a third location.

“We’re going to roll out our $7.99 one-topping pizza (on opening day),” Tamarah says. “We’re excited to service this part of town.”

chicken pizza — Chicken pizza at Marco’s Pizza | Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com

Marco’s Pizza offers a variety of homemade pizzas with fresh ingredients. One of its most popular is pepperoni magnifico, which comes with traditional and old world crispy pepperoni on a garlic butter crust. It’s served with the restaurant’s original sauce and three fresh signature cheeses and is topped off with a romesan seasoning.

Cheezybread is another popular item.

Tamarah says the menu at this store will be identical to other locations.

What sets Marco’s Pizza apart from competing restaurants, according to Tamarah, is “the quality of the ingredients” and affordable prices for customers.

“We are really (focused) on that. We’re a family-driven business. It’s super important to us,” she says.

The Smiths opened their first location inside Hillcrest Plaza at 2729 East Sunnyside Road in Ammon two years ago. A second location opened at 620 West Broadway last year.

Marco’s Pizza first opened in 1978 in Oregon, Ohio, according to its website. It’s since grown to include 1,100 stores in 33 states and is now “the fastest-growing pizza company in America.” The Ammon store was the first location in eastern Idaho.

“We’re just making our way west. We’re on the new frontier of expanding the company, but it’s in the top five national brands now,” says Tamarah.

The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.

Tamarah and Bill Smith at Marco’s Pizza in Ammon earlier this year. | Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com

Soda Barn

Next door is The Soda Barn, which will open in early July.

Nate and Kacee Houle bought the business from the original owners in 2023 and are excited to open the company’s first location outside the Pocatello area.

“This is us just trying to move the brand outward a little bit,” Nate says. “I know we have a decent following from people in Idaho Falls who’ve come here and had some of our cookies. We’re hoping there’s some excitement around it up there, too.”

Soda Barn has dozens of soda flavors available to patrons, but Nate says the biggest-seller is the cookies. They are the founders’ original recipes, and the Houles are proud to continue the tradition of offering a product that’s homemade and baked from scratch.

A job in the athletics department at Idaho State University is what brought Nate and his wife to Pocatello about 10 years ago. They saw a unique opportunity to change careers when Soda Barn was listed for sale.

This is the couple’s first time opening a new store since buying the company. It will be the franchise’s third location in eastern Idaho.

The Houles are planning an official grand opening once a date has been determined.

The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“We hope that when people come here, they meet a smiling face … and that we can be a bright spot in someone’s day,” says Nate.

Stella’s Ice Cream

Stella’s Ice Cream, another restaurant offering sugary treats, will be opening at this location later this year.

Mary Peterson owns the shop with her husband, James. She doesn’t have a specific date yet, but they’re shooting for late summer or early fall.

Stella’s Ice Cream is a Nampa-based franchise offering a variety of homemade ice cream flavors.

“We’ll have buckets of ice cream where you scoop it out. It’s not soft-serve,” Mary says. “We’ll have a few flavors that are standards, and then we’ll introduce a new flavor every week.”

Stella’s Ice Cream opened in 2018 and has grown to include eight locations across the state and one in Texas. The store will be the 10th location and the first one in eastern Idaho.

Recent photo of Mary and James Peterson | Courtesy photo

The Petersons recently moved to the area from Utah. James retired from a 24-year career in the Air Force, and they were looking for a slower pace of life.

Retiring in eastern Idaho was always their plan because of their memories of the Gem State. Mary’s grandmother lived in Rigby, and she had other extended family members who lived in the area. James spent some time in Swan Valley in college and they always dreamed of coming back here.

Opening a business stemmed from their desires to feel connected to the community.

“Ice cream is one of my favorite things, and we thought that would be a great business to open,” says Mary.

Although they looked into several ice cream franchises, Mary says Stella’s is the one that caught her eye. During a recent trip to Boise, Mary and her husband visited the restaurant, and they were hooked.

“I spent a whole day making ice cream with them, and I just loved it,” she says. “I knew immediately this is what I wanted to do. It was the best ice cream I’d ever had.”

There are multiple schools in the area, including Thunder Ridge High School, where her son attends. They’re hoping to sell ice cream at sporting events in the near future.

“We’re looking forward to serving the best ice cream in the area, and we hope people feel at home there and want to come and hang out,” says Mary. “We’re excited to open.”

Stella’s Ice Cream will be open Monday through Thursday from noon to 10 p.m. with an 11 p.m. closing time Friday and Saturday.

Fit 1

Stop by Fit 1 for a workout after all the goodies. The gym, which is open to members 24/7, is opening its fourth location sometime in October.

“We’re super excited,” says Wyatt Sutton, one of the business’s five owners.

Fit 1 opened in Rexburg in the old Sears building in 2021. It opened in Rigby the following year, and a 15,000-square-foot building recently opened in Twin Falls.

Sutton says this building will be larger than the Twin Falls location.

“We’ll have more machines and equipment than we did in Twin Falls, and we are very excited to continue to add options and different variations than what we’ve had in (previous locations). We’re learning as we go what people like and what we can do better. We think Idaho Falls is going to be our best one yet.”

Sutton and his team are planning a grand opening. A date will be announced as it gets closer.