Boyd-Walker Sewing closes its doors after nearly 75 years on Sprague

SPOKANE, Wash. — It’s been nearly 75 years since the doors to the Boyd-Walker Sewing Shop opened on Sprague Avenue, and this weekend, they closed for the final time.

The Spokane staple was passed down from father to son for three generations, until its latest owner, Darrell Smith, lost his battle with cancer and there was no one left to take his place.

This weekend, 75 years of history came to a close as Boyd’s put on its last sale and the people who put it on may surprise you because it wasn’t Smith’s family who orchestrated it — it was two of his tenants who own a business nearby.

“I saw him everyday. He worked so hard and he was here all the time. But then he would come take little breaks and eat taffy down there and crack jokes,” said Lindsey Eves, who runs The Rusty Mug with her husband Brian. “He was great. He was very kind. He gave us a great opportunity, truthfully, and believed in us when he didn’t have to.”

For the last year, Eves and Smith worked together to bring her vision to life. Now that he’s gone, Eves hopes to carry on his legacy. The estate sale was a small step towards that.

“He’s had three generations here so it’s kind of an iconic building and store,” she said. “I am just wanting people to kind of get that last experience of it and take the things that are not only going to mean something to them, but that would have previously meant something to Daryl and the employees.”

Now that Boyd-Walker is closed, Eves is hopeful Smith’s storefront will be passed on to another family hoping to make their mark on Sprague Avenue.

“That has been one of the most difficult things to think about — it not being Boyd-Walker,” Eves said. “But it also gives somebody else an opportunity like we had to do something great with it.”

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