Doug Clark: The vault at Dodson’s is inside owner Penn Fix’s head

Time for the question of the day: What is Spokane’s oldest retail business?

Sorry to go all Alex Trebek on you. If you’re stumped join the club.

You know me. I’m a Spokane lifer, born and raised. Yet I didn’t have a clue that Dodson’s Jewelers, 516 W. Riverside Ave., would be the answer to the quiz above.

At least I didn’t until one sunny day last fall, when I took a scooter ride downtown and walked into Dodson’s to have a bracelet repaired for my lovely wife, Sherry. For reasons I’ve forgotten, my chitchat with staffers turned to Spokane landmarks.

That’s when I learned that this year marks Dodson’s 130th year in business.

That’s impressive. After all, the venerable institution that pays me lays claim to roots dating back to 1893 (although its predecessor, The Spokane Falls Review, dates from 1883).

Run continuously by members of the same family, Dodson’s has been in business since 1887.

That’s two years before the Great Fire reduced a good part of Spokane into cinders. Not to mention two years before Washington became a state. Dodson’s is also thought to be the oldest jewelry store in the Pacific Northwest, causing one official to remark that he’d never seen a business license so old.

I remember the proud moment when my Old Man was given an engraved gold Omega wristwatch for logging 25 years with an insurance company.

So what does 130 years on the job warrant?

Giving a watch to a store that sometimes sells Patek Philippes is out of the question. But any family that can keep the shop doors open so long at least deserves a few lines of congratulatory ink.

(Columnist note: As an admitted ignoramus on history, I’d love to hear from any merchant who can beat this family’s longevity claim.)

“I don’t necessarily feel anything until people remark about how old we are,” Penn Fix, Dodson’s current owner, told me last week.

“But running a business in the context of 130 years means never taking your customers for granted.”

Sorry. John Penn Fix III is the speaker’s full name.

He’s a fifth-generation Washingtonian who can trace family back to the wild territory of 1853.

Speaking of genealogy, by the way, the Dodson’s empire began in Spokane (or Spokane Falls, rather) with George R. Dodson, who arrived here from Decatur, Illinois.

His daughter, Lois, married John Penn Fix, who ran the store until their son, John Penn Fix Jr., took over.

Junior gave way to his son, a soft-spoken and affable former high school history teacher.

Fix, 66, doesn’t go it alone. He operates the store with his wife, Debra Schultz, 62, a gregarious former middle school teacher.

Dodson’s is a warm and sparkling array of glass counters that are filled with what you’d expect to find in a fine jewelry store: rings of all kinds, watches, gold bracelets and fabulous estate items.

In the last few years, however, Dodson’s took an unexpected turn. Fix and Schultz removed a lot of silverware and other merchandise from the walls. They transformed the space into a gallery featuring dozens of original art pieces.

It’s worth a trip to the store just to look at all the stellar art.

“Penn and I love art,” Schultz said, adding that 13 pieces sold in December. “I can’t think of anything that makes me happier than writing checks to the artists.”

Dodson’s, I discovered during my interview, also has an impenetrable vault.

Not the safe. They never let me near that. The vault I’m talking about is John Penn Fix III.

I’ll explain. Being in a place with so much history, I hoped to hear all sorts of juicy tales about the extravagant buying habits of some of Spokane’s famously rich folks of yore.

Every time I would mention a name, however, Fix would tell me he couldn’t talk about that.

“But these people have been dead forever,” I argued.

Fix responded, that they still “have family in town who would be on the phone to me tomorrow.”

But. But. But…

A gracious and charming man, Fix gave me a wry Cheshire cat grin before explaining, “We have lots of stories but we’re not telling them. Our customers expect us to keep our mouths shut.”

Debra nodded sympathetically.

“If you have a secret that’s burning a hole in your brain and you have to get it off your chest,” she said, “you can tell it to Penn and it will never go anywhere.”

Forget the jewelry business. Why isn’t this guy running the CIA?

I did learn a few things. This is the third time, for instance, that Dodson’s has set up shop on Riverside. The last move came in 1987, when the store relocated across the street to its current location with the art deco storefront.

Part of the transition included moving the tall, blue-and-gold clock that has stood guard outside Dodson’s since 1903.

So one Sunday, Fix hired a guy with a forklift to unbolt the iconic timepiece and rumble it across Riverside, where it was transplanted without incident.

At least it was until a few days later, when a city official showed up to tell Fix that you can’t move a clock across a Spokane thoroughfare without a permit.

Who knew?

No citation was issued, Fix said, proving the old adage that it really is better to ask forgiveness than ask permission.

So what does the future hold for a store 130 years old?

Fix and Schultz have a son and a daughter. But as of now, the proprietor can’t say whether the family handoff tradition will continue.

Not that it matters – yet.

Schultz repeated the number “130 years” in an awed tone. “It’s pretty phenomenal when you think about it.”

Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He can be reached at (509) 459-5432 or by email at dougc@spokesman.com.