Boo Radley’s owners buy coffee shop
4 Seasons renamed in keeping with novel- based theme
Andy and Kris Dinnison, owners of the downtown Spokane gift shop Boo Radley’s, have expanded into coffee retailing.
Effective Sept. 1, the couple purchased the retail 4 Seasons Coffee location three doors down from their gift shop.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The sale involved only the retail assets of 4 Seasons. The Dinnisons will rent space from the building’s owners.
The former 4 Seasons owners, Tom and Leslie Hutchinson, will continue running their wholesale coffee business. They opened the downtown coffee shop, at 222 N. Howard, in 1982.
Since 2000, the Hutchinsons have devoted most of their attention to wholesaling to area restaurants and supermarkets, said Tom Hutchinson.
“It was just the time for us to do this,” he said. “We’ve known Andy for a long time, and he’s going to make this store keep going like it has been.”
Boo Radley’s, at 232 N. Howard, has been in business for 17 years. It’s renowned for its odd, offbeat collection of pop-culture items.
In the spirit of Boo Radley’s, the Dinnisons renamed 4 Seasons as Atticus Coffee and Gifts. Both names are from characters in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
While the economy as a whole has sputtered, downtown retail conditions have been upbeat for several months, added Dinnison. “We wouldn’t be considering this if things were cruddy down at Boo’s,” he said.
“Our sales there have been fantastic.”
He will keep both stores open seven days a week. The coffee shop will continue offering both a cafe in back, and sales of gift items, bulk coffee and bulk tea in front.
Dinnison added, “This is going to be a really creative thing to find out how to make this work for Spokane, and be a nice complement for what we do down the street at Boo’s.”