Kaufer’s Religious Supplies, a longtime staple of the Inland Northwest Christian community, has undergone renovations at its shop just northwest of the Spokane Arena.

The flooring and paint has been updated. The store has new fixtures. The stock room door was changed to fit a pallet stacker, and now there’s a Sprinter van to help handle deliveries.

In short, renovations made the store “cleaner and fresher,” says Dean Stutte, vice president of Catholic Supply of St. Louis Inc., which owns Kaufer's.

“The renovation is nice,” says Stutte, who is based in St. Louis. “Getting back on the road with our deliveries and everything is another bonus for the churches.”

Catholic Supply purchased Kaufer’s in August 2022. Kaufer’s has two locations: the Spokane store, located at 907 W. Boone, and a store in Seattle. 

“I knew the owner of the Seattle store pretty well. We did catalogs together,” says Stutte.

Jim Sinclair, the owner of the Kaufer's store in Seattle, initially brought up the idea of selling that store, says Stutte. Kaufer's was in its fifth generation of owners.

“They really didn’t have anyone coming up in the family to pass it on, so he approached me,” says Stutte.

Catholic Supply acquired the Seattle Kaufer's store, and then the Spokane store — which was owned by Sinclair’s brother, Ed Sinclair — in two separate transactions, says Stutte, who declines to disclose the purchase prices.

Catholic Supply sells a variety of Christian-related products, including Bibles, rosaries, baptismal gifts, and more. Despite its name, Catholic Supply works with all denominations of Christianity. Although its primary clientele is Roman Catholics, it works with Orthodox Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists, and other denominations. In addition to churches, it also works with other facilities that have religious needs, such as hospitals and schools, including Gonzaga University, he says.

Stutte says most of the company's business involves wholesale to churches; sales of items such as candles, chalices, statues, and other related goods that are often found in a church.

“Spokane, they have decent walk-in traffic,” he says. He notes, however, that roughly 60% of the Spokane store's business is through wholesale to churches.

Since the purchase in 2022, new products have been added to the Spokane Kaufer's store to better align with Catholic Supply’s vast offerings, says Stutte. He estimates that Catholic Supply carries at least 100,000 different products online.

“We’ve streamlined our best sellers into (the Spokane) location,” says Stutte. “They do have a better product selection than they had before.”

Of all the products Kaufer’s sells, Stutte says his favorite is the incense.

“The incense has been made by Kaufer's,” he says. “It’s still done by hand, the blending of it all. It’s done in Seattle still.”

The incense is sold to other wholesalers throughout the country, he says.

“It’s a good, quality product and has a following. When you go into the shop in Seattle, you smell it right away. It’s a unique product to them,” says Stutte.

Brad Repsold, store manager of the Spokane Kaufer’s store, says the recent remodeling has made the store more inviting.

“It’s updated. It feels clean, and it’s lighter,” says Repsold, who adds that it’s easier to see the products for sale now.

Repsold says his favorite section of the Spokane store is the books section. Other than the Bible, his favorite book Kaufer’s sells is called "The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming," by Henri JM Nouwen.

The company is currently in First Communion and Confirmation season, he says, and has gifts and related products for both at the Spokane store. First Communion and Confirmation are two sacraments that are recognized within several Christian denominations.

Repsold is one of six Spokane Kaufer’s employees — five full time and one part time. He has been working at the store for two years.

“I really liked the atmosphere when I came in,” says Repsold. “I just felt like it would be a great place to work and to do meaningful work that helped people.”

Kaufer’s Religious Supplies was founded in 1904 in Tacoma. The Seattle store opened a year later, and that became the primary location, says Stutte. As the years progressed, Kaufer’s added stores along the West Coast, in cities such as Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and Vancouver, Washington, before scaling back down to just the Spokane and Seattle locations.  

Catholic Supply of St. Louis Inc. was founded in 1960. It’s part of the National Church Good Association and has two stores in Missouri, according to its website.