Jacobs’ Upholstery now covers high-end outdoor furnishings

Four Spokane Valley siblings have uncovered a new market for their nearly 50-year-old family upholstery business.

The owners of Jacobs’ Upholstery and Patio added the outdoor aspect a year ago by reconfiguring the interior custom upholstery workrooms to create retail space for high-end outdoor furniture and accessories that also can showcase their custom work.

“Customers can choose the outdoor furniture, and we can make the chair pads (with matching umbrella covers, too),” said David Jacobs, company president. “It’s really been a fun addition to our business,” he added, noting his satisfaction with helping others create their settings for backyard memories with family and friends.

The Jacobs family business, which also includes brothers Darby and Dean and sister Donna, spouses and children, continues its specialty of reupholstering furniture, autos and boats, as well as customizing draperies and other window treatments. The expansion will take the company into its first substantially new market in years.

Now, the main showroom that once was filled with bolts of fabric, has been transformed into an oasis of outdoor room displays for dining and lounging with additional large and small accessories for sale such as a granite-topped outdoor fireplace. Two adjacent workrooms are now furniture showrooms as well, and fabrics have been condensed into a library where customers can ponder options.

David Jacobs said the shop currently sells outdoor furniture from eight vendors from across North America; it was a priority to carry excellent craftsmanship they could refer to as heirloom quality. The furniture is made from materials such as cast iron, cast aluminum and teak and most come with several-year warranties. Customers can expect to see prices for one chair, for example, start at about $450.

As weather permits, passers-by will see furniture displayed outside Jacobs’ Upholstery and Patio where the entrance also has been transformed to show off the new aspect of this fourth-generation family business.

Jacobs’ Upholstery began in 1949 in Clarkston and was relocated to the Spokane Valley in 1975. The company has steadily grown, and in the past five years its work force grew from mostly family to include several additional employees.

“It’s been a constant progression, and last year was when we decided to bring in this high-end furniture,” David Jacobs said. “If last year is any indication, the area really enjoys it.”