On April 29, a line of customers spanned two full blocks in anticipation of the grand opening of Lego resale hobby store Brick Buy Brick LLC, providing optimism for its owners, Bryce Colvin and Frankie Foote.

Brick Buy Brick buys, sells, and trades new and used Lego sets and pieces at its 2,000-square-foot store located at 3915 N. Monroe, across Monroe from the historic Garland Theater, in Spokane’s Garland District. The couple, who are the store’s only employees, accept complete, incomplete, and already-built sets.

They also offer consignment services, which Foote says helps keep the shelves stocked for customers.

“Consignment has been a huge deal, because we’re helping them, (and) they’re helping us,” Foote says.

Colvin, 30, came up with the idea to open a Lego store, he says.

“When I turned 30, I really started getting back into Lego again, and I started embracing it,” he says.

Colvin previously was a chef in Spokane, and Foote, 31, still works as an administrative assistant at Valbridge Property Advisors. 

Foote says they have each taken on complementary roles at Brick Buy Brick. Foote handles much of the business side—aspects like bookkeeping, research, and insurance—while Colvin handles most of the Lego-related duties—the layout and presentation of the store, keeping up with hobby trends, and maintaining knowledge of various products.

“It was a good balance of 50/50—business over here and Lego over here,” she says.

Brick Buy Brick’s products come from a variety of sources. The store owners buy sets and pieces from customers in the store, from sellers on eBay, and from a third-party Lego distributor through which it secures some of the same products in cycle at retail stores like Target or Walmart, Colvin says.

Foote explains, “Lego doesn’t distribute to small businesses directly; they use a third party.”

She says all of Brick Buy Brick’s available products will be sold or traded in-store only. The store hasn’t been approved by Lego to sell products online, and the owners say they don’t plan to seek approval for now.

“We are really trying hard to focus on the brick-and-mortar side of things,” Foote says.

Brick Buy Brick does have some of its products listed on its website, but those listings are meant to show customers what is available at the store.

Colvin says, “Lego’s also a physical toy. It’s better to come in person, feel it, play with it, see it with your own eyes.”

Another feature that the store offers is its bulk tables, which are filled with a mix of loose, used pieces. Customers can purchase small, medium, or large bags, which range in cost from $10 to $25, and fill them with their choice of pieces, he says.

Colvin says the customer base so far has varied widely and includes kids and teens, adult collectors, and grandparents looking for birthday gifts. Brick Buy Brick also sells some Lego Duplo sets, which are intended for children and toddlers ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 4 years old.

“It’s been really cool to see all of the Lego people come out of the woodwork,” Foote says.

Colvin says he and Foote are continuing to get an idea of which items are most popular.

“With the children, it’s Ninjago, just because it has a TV show connected to it,” he says.

Star Wars items, cars, and minifigures have also been among the most popular. Minifigures are small figures from any of Lego’s many themes. Minifigures typically range in price from $1 to $60, Colvin says.

A lot of adults that come in are interested in older sets that they remember from childhood, he says.

Foote says the pricing of items depends on whether they are new or used. For the new items, Lego sets a minimum price that the items can be sold at. For used items bought on the aftermarket, they typically use the six-month average of U.S. sales on BrickLink, a Lego-owned online marketplace where people can buy and sell new and used items.

“We try our best to keep everything really fair,” Foote says.

Prices at Brick Buy Brick range from less than $1 for some individual pieces to a roller coaster listed on its website at $475.

Brick Buy Brick also has an event room that can be rented out for birthday parties or other events, like Lego group meetings.

“One surprising group of people that we’ve discovered is ‘Lego ladies,’” Foote says. “A lot of them want to get together and start a Lilac Ladies Lego Club, as they call it.”

Colvin says that he hopes Brick Buy Brick will help grow Spokane’s Lego community and give it a “home base.”

“This is the spot,” he says. “If it’s anything Lego, you’re coming to Brick Buy Brick.”

Brick Buy Brick is open noon-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.

Small Bites

Humble Abode Brewing LLC, of Spokane, is expanding its operations by opening an additional location in downtown Spokane, according to the brewery’s Facebook page. The nanobrewery has leased the former Common Language Brewing space at 926 W. Sprague. Humble Abode’s original location is at 1620 E. Houston, in Spokane.