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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Former Smith’s Furniture Building Finds New Tenants

The vacant Smith’s Home Furnishings building at Sprague and Sullivan should be back in business by Christmas.

The 45,000-square foot building will house four retail shops, starting with a new 50% Off Cards shop.

Another tenant is expected to sign on sometime next week, said Tomlinson-Black Commercial agent Randy Jassman.

“We’ve got a lot of interest,” he said.

The card store will occupy 12,000 square feet of the building. The second, unnamed tenant would take up 9,000 square feet.

The other two spaces are still up for lease and will be filled with retail stores.

The Valley Smith’s Home Furnishings building has been empty for two years. Smith’s, a national chain, filed for Chapter 11 in August 1995.

The 3-year-old Smith’s building will get a new facade, Jassman said. Exactly what the building will look like after remodeling is still up in the air. Architect’s drawings are not complete. Still, Jassman said he expects construction to begin in the next few weeks.

The discount card business already operates a Valley store, at Sprague and Pines. It sells cards, shiny metallic balloons and party supplies. And this time of year, there’s gads of grease paint and latex masks for Halloween.

Company management did not return calls. But a clerk at the Sprague and Pines location said that store should stay in business, even after the Sullivan spot opens up. She said that could happen as early as November.

The owner of the property - Smith’s II Ltd. Partnership - was not involved in the furniture store’s demise, Jassman said.

Rather, Smith’s II owned the property that seven of the chain stores leased.

Spokane’s other former Smith’s Home Furnishings store, at Northpointe Plaza on the city’s North Side, was reopened last November as a Future Shop electronics store.

, DataTimes