From Garland Theater sale to bakery woes, here are the top Spokane business stories of 2023

As local businesses continue their recovery from government shutdowns, the shocks from COVID-19 linger.

Rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions and inflation made 2023 a challenge for local commerce.

Despite surmountable adversity, economic progress persisted and local leaders, like their counterparts across the nation, avoided what most economists predicted would become a recession.

Spokane: A city with a changing history of economic resilience

The historical underpinnings of Spokane’s economy has changed over the decades from logging and mining, to aluminum production and now it’s become a health care hub – all without the help of household, mega-companies.

The Spokesman-Review heard from local business leaders and economists to learn how small- and mid-sized companies paired with a diverse set of industries helped Spokane weather the financial challenges.

Longhorn Barbecue, going strong after more than 60 years

Since 1958, five World War II veterans and brothers have been making their trademark dishes and sauces at their location in western Spokane.

The Lehnertz crew brought their recipes and cooking methods from their home state of Texas that we created more than 60 years ago and continue today. Their restaurant success spawned a separate wholesale business that ships bottles of Longhorn Barbecue sauce all over the world.

Their story kicked off a series of stories featuring the longest-running eateries in Spokane and the secrets to their tenures.

Massive development on Rathdrum Prairie

Continued growth and encroachment into the Rathdrum Prairie, a vast, flat area, has long been sought after by developers.

The undeveloped land acts as a separation between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene. But earlier this year, when a developer proposed a massive housing project on the border of the two towns, the continuation of their independence became less certain.

The economists who cried recession for 2023

Economists local and global predicted a recession by the end of 2023.

But with cooling inflation and record low unemployment rates, their premonitions were proven to off-target.

How were so many experts wrong?

The local economy, and the national economy, exceeded expectations of economists in a variety of ways.

Nothing sweet about running a bakery

To operate a bakery, whether it specializes in artisanal bread or sweet treats, bakers deal in four ingredients that cannot be substituted or omitted: flour, sugar, eggs and milk.

If surviving the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t hard enough, the war in Ukraine, the avian flu, plummeting demand for milk and El Niño have caused prices to for commodities to soar for singular and multiple reasons.

And because no one wants to pay $30 for a loaf of bread or $10 for a cupcake, many Spokane bakery owners are facing profit margins too narrow to survive.

Spokane company searches for curiosities

A 40 year-old, Spokane engineering firm has had quite the run.

From searching for and finding a ship full of gold, to locating historic submarines, the company is staying true to its roots.

After young engineers took over the company, they relocated most of its operations from coastal Seattle to inland Spokane to continue their work that takes place miles underwater.

This year, the company embarked on a mission alongside an offbeat Harvard professor to recover fragments from a space object.

They’re finding could be the first of its kind.

Downtown loses handful of restaurants at once

Business of all types shut their doors during and after COVID and never reopened. Suki Yaki Inn was the latest to close in a string of eateries that shuttered in and around downtown.

For restaurants that survived, rising production costs made it harder than ever to stay afloat, even with prime, downtown locations.

The Spokesman-Review spoke with owners of restaurants to learn why operating eateries is so difficult despite having adoring customers.

Garland Theater sold As theaters across the country submitted to streaming services and ended their productions over the past few decades, the Garland Theater kept rolling.

This was largely thanks to Katherine Fritchie who has owned the operation since 1999.

But this year, she sold the property to real estate developer Jordan Tampien.

With his partners, Tampien envisions a new look for the historic business – not only its appearance but with a new business model as well.