New thrift stores, most of which feature collectibles from the 1950s to the 1970s, are proliferating on North Monroe.

The small businesses, many with limited resources, say they've begun to profit from each other's goodwill and are working to build the street's reputation as a fun place to shop.

Liz Bataller, a bank teller from Colville, says she heads to Monroe Street whenever she comes to Spokane to shop.

"You have everything from Spokane Art Supply to Vintage Rabbit. This whole spectrum of Bohemian places—it just makes it so fun," Bataller says. "You really don't need to shop on Division that much because there's so much on Monroe."

The new stores include Cruz'n Back in Time, The Bag Lady, and Fabulous Finds Thrift Boutique. Three outlets, Unified Groove Merchants, Area 58, and Metro Home Furniture on Consignment have been in business for a couple of years. Besides collectibles from the 50's, 60's and 70's, some of the stores also sell mid-century modern furniture, which is said to date from 1933 to 1965 and to be growing in popularity nationally.

Chris Garras began selling mid-century modern when he opened Metro Home Furniture, at 604 N. Monroe, in March 2008. He says about one-third of his floor space is dedicated to the genre. He sees clientele of all ages, but says more and more young people are becoming interested in the style.

Tony Brown, owner of Unified Groove, at 2607 N. Monroe, previously sold mostly vinyl record albums, but recently has added mid-century modern furniture to his inventory.

"I kind of got the bug," Brown says. "It really grew on me when I was shopping for furniture. Portland and Seattle have a lot of it."

Brown says he likes his location on Monroe Street.

"It's a busy street. Retail space isn't as expensive as on Division or downtown. You can spend more on inventory rather than on rent." He adds, "Monroe is becoming quite hip with its vintage collectible shops."

Cruz Nicacio opened Cruz'n Back in Time, at 3109 N. Monroe, last September. He carries collectible items from the 1900s to the 1980s, but "nothing newer than that." He says he often hears customers in the store burst into laughter.

"They're having fun. They see things that remind them of their childhood, or of their parents or grandparents."

Dennis Held says that in spite of the recession, Area 58, the collectibles shop he runs with his wife, Connie Grove, has done well since it opened in 2006. A life-sized imitation human skeleton "rides" atop a large dinosaur skeleton outside the store's front door at 3606 N. Monroe.

"Spokane has embraced us. We grew by 18 percent last year over the previous year," Held says.

Store owners along the street cite collaboration as a reason they feel good about doing business on Monroe.

"Area 58 sends a lot of customers our way who wouldn't have come in otherwise," Brown says.

Nicacio says, "All the business owners are great to work with. We promote each other's businesses. If a customer wants something I don't have, I call Area 58 or Bag Lady or Time Bomb or Vintage Rabbit."

The 14-block stretch of commercial property from the Monroe Street Bridge to Cora Street has about 170 businesses. Most are Spokane-based. Many have been around for decades, and continue to draw customers from a wide radius.

Antique dealers on Monroe have a friendly co-existence with the collectibles shops, but also have a more formal association called the Monroe Street Antique District. Nine of them pooled funds to print bright yellow flyers listing their antiques businesses, with a map on the back. They get together regularly for dinner to discuss problems and make plans for the future. They also call one another frequently if a customer requests an item they don't have in their inventory.

In June, Virginia Edgar purchased the building at 907 N. Monroe formerly owned by Julie Button's Antiques & Collectibles, and renamed the business Fabulous Finds Thrift Boutique. Some of Julie Button's inventory is still for sale there on consignment.

Edgar joined the Monroe Street Antique District right away.

"I think they're doing a real good job making this an antiques district," she says. "We all kind of promote each other."

Suzette Nordstrom has owned Lillian Conn Antiques Interiors & Gallery, at Monroe and Augusta, for seven years. She says that since the recession began, business is "not probably as strong as it was, but I'm still optimistic. People that can afford quality antiques are still buying them." She says her interior design business also helps keep her antique and art business afloat. Although she sells only antiques and art at her store, she enjoys the collectibles shops on Monroe.

"It's a cool street. There are fresh ideas here, and some groovy things are going on," Nordstrom says.

One idea some North Monroe businesses are advocating is a streetscape design similar to the ones recently implemented on Market Street in Hillyard and on south Perry Street on the lower South Hill. They formed a nonprofit North Monroe Business District in 2006, and became part of the city's Neighborhood Business Centers program implemented by its business and development department.

An initial plan designed for the district in 2007 by the Spokane office of Abbotswood Design Group has brickwork intersections and pedestrian crossings, old-fashioned lamp-style lighting with hanging flower baskets, sidewalk trees, and a planted median island with overhead traffic lighting and decorative banners. The idea behind the design is to cause traffic on the street to slow down, and to create a more pedestrian-friendly shopping district.

The design, however, is more than three years old. Because businesses move in and out, that typically means that it no longer would meet the street's needs without being updated, says city Business and Development Coordinator Teri Stripes.

She says there is no remaining funding for the project after a $20,000 community development block grant was spent on the streetscape design. The overall project would cost over $300,000 per block over a 22-block area to implement. If businesses on Monroe could raise 10 percent to 20 percent in matching funds, Stripes could go after government funding to cover the cost of the project.

Stripes says that Monroe Street business owners have been rethinking the design.

"A lot of people don't necessarily agree with the concept of the design," she says. "From a business perspective, with a boulevard, it's hard to make left-hand turns to get to a business. It makes for a beautiful streetscape, but it causes customers additional travel time. Because of that, some may bypass a business rather than going in."

Longtime business owners on Monroe feel they have already experienced too much bypassing of their businesses because of street work.

Bob Tweedy, owner of Empire Office Machines, at 1411 N. Monroe, since 1993, says businesses took a beating when the Monroe Street Bridge was rebuilt from 2003 to 2005. About a decade earlier, they also were hit hard when Monroe Street was rebuilt over about two years from the bridge to Maxwell Street.

"The bridge was closed a long time. Monroe was hit hard by the change in people's driving patterns," Held says.

Tweedy, president of the North Monroe Business District, says participation by members is "in a lull right now." He says the organization has changed its meeting time from evenings to lunchtime to see if it can attract more business owners.

Katie Farnes, an interior designer who recently graduated from Washington State University and joined Lillian Conn, says the streetscape is "such an incredible plan for Monroe, but it's just not happening."

To help solve the dilemma, the city enlisted the aid of William Kelly, professor of urban and regional planning at Eastern Washington University, in Cheney. His students studied the streetscape design and talked with business owners, then proposed a plan that cut back on medians, Tweedy says.

Although the momentum has slowed for improving North Monroe's outward appearance, relationships among business owners are creating what Held calls "a sense of solidarity."

"Hey, we've got something here that we can be proud of," Held says.