Then and Now: Kershaw's
One of Spokane's oldest surviving businesses started as a typewriter dealer at the beginning of the 20th century and continues to supply other businesses with furniture and office supplies.
Section:Then & Now
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Then and Now: Kershaw's
The modern typewriter was invented in 1867 by Charles Latham Sholes. In just a few years, typewriters became essential for business, publishing and personal use.
Fred L. Kershaw arrived in Spokane in 1889 from Massachusetts around the age of 20 and took a job in a bank. But around the turn of the century he established a typewriter and office supply company called Western Typewriter to sell and service the machines. It, became an important service provider to offices around Spokane, including to Spokane City Hall.
In an advertisement in 1908, Kershaw advertised new typewriters from Remington, Smith, Fox, Oliver and Underwood for 20 to 50 dollars, even renting or leasing the machines to those who couldn’t afford the purchase price.
Kershaw changed the company name to Kershaw’s Office Equipment Company and had several different addresses on Sprague and Riverside avenues before they moved into 612 W. Sprague Avenue in 1925, where it would stay for more than 40 years.
Fred Kershaw died in 1952 and his daughter, Mildred, and son-in-law Charles Yenney took over the company. That same year, the company purchased the building at 119. S. Howard Street to house the furniture showroom, warehouse and shipping departments. In 1962, Kershaw’s was sold to Wesley Melior, who had been employed at the business since 1930.
In 1968, the three-story Kershaw building on Sprague was sold to Seattle First National Bank, which had taken over the former Spokane and Eastern bank at Howard Street and Riverside Avenue in the mid-1930s. The Seattle bank would begin construction of an office tower in the late 1970s after purchasing the entire block. The SeaFirst Financial Center would open in 1981 as the tallest building in Spokane. It was renamed the Bank of America Financial Center in 1998 following a merger.
In 1973, Rudy Cozetto, another longtime employee, purchased Kershaw’s and built it into five locations with three retail stores. Cozzetto, his family and employees ran Kershaw’s until 1986, when he sold it to The Office Place, a regional chain.
Kershaw’s stopped repairing typewriters in the 1980s.
After a few years, that company closed the Spokane store. In 1990, Cozzetto bought the name back, reopened the store, and built back their clientele by focusing on customer service. Kershaw’s, consolidated at the Howard Street location, is now owned by Cozzetto’s daughter and son-in-law, Diane and Damien Mangano. Cozzetto died in 1999.
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