NICKEL'S WORTH

Richard Haakenson launched Nickel's Worth in February of 1972 as a four-page want ad weekly covering the five counties of North Idaho. Want ads to cost $1 and circulation was about 12,000. With the hope of providing North Idaho with an alternative newspaper, Martin and Carol Stacey bought the Nickel's Worth in November of the same year and supplemented the advertising with editorials, reviews, cartoons, and local news items.

Originally the paper's office was tucked away behind the Jiffy Mart on Lincoln Way. During the summer of 1973, a new space was found in downtown Coeur d'Alene in the building at 5th Street and Sherman Avenue, where Nickel's Worth remains today. As the demand for want ads grew, so did Nickel's Worth's circulation, tripling by 1985, the year the paper was acquired by Cowles Publishing Company. In the mid-1980s, the area serviced by the paper was enlarged to include the western counties of Montana.

Martin and Carol retired in 2010 and Tim Rostkoski was named publisher. Tim retired in January 2021 and Heather Eller is now the current publisher.