Soulful Soups owner announces plan to sell business

Lauren D’Arienzo is ready to put down the ladle.

Situated on Howard Street, between Riverside and Main avenues, Soulful Soups & Spirits may soon end a two-decade run and join a swath of restaurants and bars that have recently announced their closure.

“It’s still a very successful operation but it’s not about the money,” D’Arienzo said. “Being a downtown restaurant owner is just very difficult right now.”

Her announcement follows a police shooting Monday in which a man was killed near her business. But D’Arienzo said the incident did not trigger her decision to close.

“What happened (Monday) did not put me over the edge,” she said. “I was already done.”

The business opened under different owner in 2001 and D’Arienzo purchased it 2011.

If you asked D’Arienzo five years ago if she would ever sell her business, her answer would be an emphatic no.

“I don’t have kids so I thought I would really connect with someone … and then they would take it over,” she said. “And I would help them financially do that.”

Oftentimes when she arrives to open her business at about 6 a.m., she finds someone sleeping in front of her door. Those types of encounters prompted her to call Crime Check an average of twice per week, she said.

Once her car was burglarized in broad daylight.

“Someone put a hole in my back passenger window and took my backpack,” she said. “It was 10:30 in the morning on a Wednesday.”

Crime is just one reason she plans to leave. Like many other businesses, she has experienced many staffing issues.

For her operation, she requires 10 workers on staff. Currently, she has seven.

“Quite simply, I’m working harder and making less money and I feel scared when I walk out the front door,” she said.

When she inevitably leaves Soulful Soups behind, she will focus on her other business. She also co-owns the St. Bernard restaurant and lounge at Schweitzer’s ski resort.

“I’m sad for Spokane. It used to be so awesome,” she said.

That was 10 years ago.

“I used to not even own a car. I used to walk to and from work,” she said, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. “My gosh, I don’t even like doing that during the day.”

She first considered selling her shop about two years ago, but she said the buyer backed out after the landlord refused to extend D’Arienzo’s lease.

Now she’s stopped trying to market the restaurant.

“No one’s going to buy it,” she said. “And after there was a shooting in front of us, I wonder if the buyer feels like they dodged a bullet by not buying it.”

Unless something changes, D’Arienzo expects to close in December 2025, which is when her current lease ends.

But that could come sooner rather than later.

Building owner Mike Lang holds a similar sentiment in regards to conducting business downtown.

“To tell you the truth, I’m considering leaving town myself,” he said.

By July, he said he will choose whether to keep the three-story, mixed-use building or sell it.

“Lauren and I have not gotten along too well but if I sell” Soulful Soups would be out at that point.

Since purchasing, Lang said he has spent over $1 million to renovate the upper floors of the building. That includes the third floor, where he resides.

“I’m getting old and tired of the riff-raff,” the 72-year-old said. “I just want to be in good health and on a beach somewhere.”

Lang relies on the revenue from the restaurant. So, if he decide to stay, he said he would be forced to open his own food operation in that space. He’s reached out to other restaurant owners and gotten zero interest.

“I’ve knocked on all the doors,” he said. “No one is interested in owning a business in downtown Spokane.”

With few takers, Lang thinks he could open a health food operation in which customers grab items through a walk up window.

“What happened the other day throws another big question into it. I mean, how do protect your customers let alone yourself?” he asked. “What Lauren went through (Monday) was traumatic. And I’m not sure I see it getting any better.”

As for what should be done to improve the working conditions, the landlord and restaurateur are at a loss.

They both claim the Downtown Spokane Partnership, a nonprofit tasked with creating a livable and sustainable downtown, has made a positive impact.

As for policing practices, Lang believes there should be more of a presence downtown while D’Arienzo thinks otherwise.

“I think they’re doing everything they can but they’re outnumbered,” she said. “I am so grateful for them and the Spokane Downtown Partnership. They’re doing what they can but my gosh, how do you keep up with it?”

Lang has his doubts.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t have a lot of faith,” he said. “It’s going to take a Herculean effort to make things better.”

As for Soulful Soups, D’Arienzo hopes someone will keep filling bowls downtown.

“I want Soulful Soups to stay here forever and ever, and I would support a buyer to make that happen. I don’t want to do it anymore,” she said. “I still believe Spokane can be good to business owners because this downtown community has been so dang good to me.”