Cop Shop Store Outfits Police Officers - And Other Public Servants As Well

The splash of color at Blumenthal Uniforms and Equipment is brown.

The Spokane shop outfits law enforcement, fire and postal workers across the Inland Northwest.

Judging by the pants, jackets and other clothing neatly ranked around the room, it’s a blue world - powder to midnight.

That suits Manager Mitch Blumenthal fine.

He says the store has prospered since the family, which owns two similar stores in the Seattle area, bought the Spokane business from a competitor in 1996.

And a recent move to a location just a block off Boone has been a further boost, he said. The expanded space allows Blumenthal to display more merchandise closer to clientele clustered at the Public Safety Building, Spokane Transit Authority barns and U.S. Postal Service’s downtown operations.

Blumenthal sells everything to equip a law officer except weapons.

Jackets stenciled “POLICE” hang on one rack. Several styles of footgear are mounted on pegboard. And showcases along the rear wall contain insignia and gold braid.

Another, locked showcase in the middle of the store contains items like handcuffs and mace.

There are nightsticks and holsters, tooled belts and body armor.

Including a bullet-proof vest, the cost of fully outfitting a law officer is about $3,000, depending on the volume of business a police department or sheriff’s office does, Blumenthal said.

About 60 percent of police-equipment sales are made to law enforcement agencies, the rest to individual officers.

The city of Spokane, Blumenthal said, buys everything for its officers but shoes. That contract is put up for bid.

Spokane County provides a uniform allowance, but not until a deputy’s anniversary date.

Blumenthal said the Spokane store serves a market that stretches from Billings, Mont., to the Cascade Mountains. Salesmen, including himself, are always on the road showing the latest equipment, he said.

“It’s a relationship-building business,” said Blumenthal, who became the family member responsible for the Spokane store because he had been establishing contacts in the area for a decade.

The store has a tailor on site and a liberal return policy, he said, adding, “We like to think of ourselves as the Nordstrom of the police industry.”

And you must be a member of the industry to buy. Blumenthal said he does not sell police gear to civilians.

“To keep a reputation in this business, that’s of the highest importance,” he said.

The store does sell a lot of footwear to civilians, as well as items like holsters and flashlights. “There’s a lot of things we’ll special order,” Blumenthal said.

The store also made an exception for reporters headed overseas to cover conflicts like the Gulf War or Bosnia, he noted. They wanted, and got, body armor.

Although police gear takes up most of the store’s space, there are displays for postal workers and some firefighter clothing.

Blumenthal said the shop does not sell the turnout gear worn at fires because manufacturers limit the number of distributors.

Blumenthal’s store itself is the only outlet for almost all the equipment police officers require.

Blumenthal said the store, which employs eight, does have to compete with catalogs. The three-store chain has a catalog of its own, but it is not very complete, he said.

“It’s a very costly item to produce,” Blumenthal said.

The company is working on a Web site.

“I think there’s a huge potential out there,” he said.