SPOKANE — A North Spokane hobby shop that has served the community for six decades will close its doors next Friday, but the brothers behind the counter say this is not entirely the end.
Brothers Bryan and Bruce Batch have worked at B&B Hobbies since their parents opened it in 1965.
“It was named after me and my brother — Bruce and Bryan,” Bruce Batch explained.
The Batch brothers have since taken over the business, located on the corner of Nevada and Francis.
They offer customers hands-on expertise that Bryan Batch says simply cannot be replicated online.
“We just have that knowledge in our head that doesn’t exist otherwise,” Bryan Batch said.
Over the decades, B&B Hobbies has drawn loyal customers from across generations.
“I’ve got entire generations, four and five generations in here. I mean, it’s nuts,” he said.
Rick Smith first walked into B&B Hobbies in 1967, when he was 14 years old. He said the Batch brothers have always made time for their customers.
“Brian and Bruce, they’ll spend as much time with you as you need if you’re just getting into it,” Smith said.
Customers have traveled hours to shop at the store — some crossing state lines, others crossing international borders. Ron Turner makes the trip from Canada.
“I can’t think of any comparable in Vancouver. I’m from Toronto originally and we did have hobby shops like this then, but again, that was, you know, 40 years ago,” Turner said.
B&B Hobbies currently holds the largest model hobby inventory in the Inland Northwest, stocking everything needed to build model cars, trains, planes and ships. Bryan Batch acknowledges it is a niche industry — and one he will miss.
But Batch says the time is right for retirement.
“It’s just our time, our turn,” he said.
For longtime customers like Smith, the closure stings.
“I guess I’ll feel kind of lost, to be honest. But it’s been a great run,” Smith said.
Still, the story of B&B Hobbies is not entirely over. Bryan and Bruce still own the building and all of their inventory, and they plan to hold pop-up sales over the next year.
“Beyond that, I don’t know what else is going to happen. But you know, like I say, we’re 60 years. It’s time for us,” Bryan Batch said.
COPYRIGHT 2026 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
