Every city has things that make it special. Spokane is no exception. From Riverfront Park, to Avista Stadium, Spokane is filled with its own culture. Deep down in the heart of downtown lies a local bookstore named Auntie’s. Founded in 1978, Auntie’s has been a mainstay in the Spokane culture for years.
Auntie’s has long been a cultural staple here in Spokane. Founded by the Book and Game store along with Uncle’s and Merlin’s, Auntie’s has been entertaining the Spokane citizens for 45 years. It moved into its current location in the 90’s alongside its counter part Uncle’s and has been a landmark of the downtown area.
Manager Kerry Mayer, a long time member of Auntie’s, says they call themselves a literary landmark.
“It’s kind of a destination source,” Kerry said, “Even authors know who we are. We’re kind of the place to go here in Spokane.”
But what makes this icon tick? Kerry says that every day is different, but being able to make their own decisions and not answer to a regional manager lifts a lot of stress. Coming under new ownership in recent years hasn’t slowed that down at all.
“This is probably the best team of people we’ve ever had,” Kerry said, “It’s a lot of fun here.”
Gerard has been an employee at Auntie’s since last year.
“The environment here is really good,” Gerard said, “The team is a cool mix of coworkers and it’s a fun time.”
Gerard describes his time at aunties as an amazing working atmosphere, but the most important part is the rapport with the customers. Being a local bookstore, regular customers are important and Auntie’s prides themselves on building relationships with them.
“I’m still new here so I’m still establishing a customer base,” Gerard said, “But everyone has been super friendly and it’s been easy building that rapport.”
Those loyal customers are what helped Auntie’s survive the pandemic when a lot of local stores did not.
“It seemed like the community really rallied behind us,” Kerry said, “ They invested and believed in us.”
Emily Rose has lived in Spokane for 16 years. Her first experience in Auntie’s was when she was 9 years old.
“It was an exciting experience for me because I loved books,” Emily said, “It’s a nice environment and it was fun to explore this bookstore that was different from the big chains.”
Emily has been visiting Auntie’s ever since. It’s an important part of her experience with Spokane.
“I regularly show people who are new here this bookstore,” Emily said, “ They always think it’s so cool.”
Emily was scared for Aunties during COVID. She watched many other local businesses closed down from her childhood.
“I was scared,” she said. “It’s such an iconic store and it would’ve sucked to see something I loved closed down. Luckily it seemed everyone agreed how important it was and it pulled through.”
Auntie’s survived the pandemic, and continues to withstand the test of time, bringing in new and returning customers alike. Authors from all around have books in this store, and it stands as a place that supports local authors as well. Aunties has earned its place among Spokane’s elite, and hopefully remains there for many years to come.