Carr Electric is closing

Carr Sales, a brightly lit icon on First Avenue between Monroe and Lincoln streets, began as a hardware store in the Fisher building in 1929. Fifteen years alter, Don Barnett bought the store and transformed into an electric supply distributor. In 1971, Don’s son Rod Barnett took over the family business, armed with business and law degrees from Gonzaga University.

Section:Gallery

Thu., Oct. 18, 2018

Bruce Cudmore, 61, has worked for Carr Sales Co. for the past 29 years. He his currently the purchasing manager. The store at 919 W. First Avenue is closing.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
The old Viking Apartments have been abandoned since the 1960s. Carr Sales, below the apartments, stored its goods in the rooms, some of which still have sinks, toilets and bathtubs.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
West First Avenue has always had a blue-collar feel to it. The building at 915 W. First is part of Carr Sales, an electrical supply store. For many years it was the Sampson-Ayers building, which housed a sheet music story operated by Ruth Sampson Ayers. In the early days of Spokane, farmers and rural residents visited Church's Seed Store on West First for seed, animal feed and equipment. Henry Church's store later became Inland Seed and was bought by Portland Seed Company and moved in the 1920s. In 1929, Ruth Sampson, daughter of Swedish immigrants and a gifted singer, opened Ruth Sampson Sheet Music and moved into the old seed store building at 915 W. First in 1953. She had married Stephen Ayers, a WWI and WWII veteran, in 1945 and Sampson-Ayers House of Music grew into one of the largest sheet music outlets in the country. The storefront featured piano and organ sales, a recital hall and practice rooms. She ran the business for 50 years. She died in 1991 at the age of 92 and her obituary claimed she was the soloist on the first radio program broadcast from Spokane and the first soloist to appear with the Spokane Symphony. The building sat empty for several years before being purchased by Carr Sales, an electrical supply company next door, and it now serves as showroom and warehouse space. Carr Sales was founded by businessman Don Barnett in 1946 and it is operated today by his son, Rod Barnett.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Church's Seed Store, at 915 W. First Ave. is seen in a photo circa 1905 in downtown Spokane. The store, operated by Henry S. Church, carried seed, fertilizer, animal feed, and equipment.

Northwest Room Of The Spokane Public Library Courtesy