Olsen selling shop; keeps repair business

BONNERS FERRY — The basic theory behind how a sewing machine makes a stitch hasn’t changed since the 1800s.

Newer sewing machines just have more bells and whistles.

Witnessing the changes for more than 45 years, one sewing machine at a time, is LaMar Olsen.

If anyone knows sewing machines inside and out, it is Olsen. He repairs and services sewing machines. He also owns LaMar’s in downtown Bonners Ferry.

Three years ago he moved his sewing machine repair business from the back of his store to his garage, a step towards retirement. However, he still stays busy repairing around 50 sewing machines a month.

“As long as I can keep maneuvering, I’ll keep doing it,” said Olsen, who will be 78 this year. “It is handier here with all my tools. I do miss not being there to visit with people that come in.”

Being downtown for almost 50 years has allowed Olsen to visit with many people while fixing their sewing machines. The visits first started over typewriters and calculators.

In 1957 after Olsen finished in the Army, he went to school in Oregon to learn the typewriter trade. Then in 1963 he began repairing typewriters and calculators at his house.

Later, he moved downtown into the Irv Dinning building (where KBFI is currently located) and several months later moved into the back of the Corner Drug Store (currently being remodeled) in the late 1960s.

In the early 1970s, Olsen moved his business into the current location on Main Street.

Olsen started repairing sewing machines after a friend who had a fabric shop moved away and asked him to take care of sewing machines.

Now, Olsen services and repairs sewing machines from as far away as northern British Columbia, thanks to word of mouth through quilting guilds.

The closest sewing repair shop in Canada that Olsen could recall is in Vancouver. Olsen estimates nearly 40 percent of his customers are from Creston, B.C.

Every Thursday, Olsen travels to Sandpoint to repair more sewing machines.

“My theory is to get those machines running,” said Olsen. “Every day I look forward to what comes.”

Sewing machines are the typical repair item, but sometimes a special request comes in, like a green 1956 milkshake machine.

Between the two milkshake machines brought in, Olsen is hoping there are enough working parts to make one of the machines work.

Machines, including sewing machines, aren’t made like they were back in the forties, fifties or sixties said Olsen. Back then, manufacturers didn’t change models for 10 years because the machinery cost so much to change.

Each change on a sewing machine part required a new piece of machinery to be produced at the foundry. Now, robots control the process and can easily be reprogrammed to make a different part.

Olsen reminisced that when the Bernina manufacturer was deciding to add electronic components to his sewing machines, he had to decide between recasting all new machinery or spending even more money for robots.

With a decision to change to robots, the manufacturer’s biggest problem was his employees. With robots, he didn’t need all the employees. So he gave them a choice: funds for retirement or funds to go back to school. Many went back to school for electronics and came back to work for him.

“I would’ve closed the store three years ago if I wasn’t concerned about the same thing,” said Olsen, who is now selling his LaMar’s store.

While Olsen is still concerned about his employees, he wants more time to do things and wants to let someone else put their personality into the store. Olsen cares about the people of the town and wants someone dedicated to the community to take over.

“It’s been an interesting field seeing things come and go,” said Olsen. “Lots of fun doing everything.”

Starting with typewriters and selling ribbon to go with them to working on the first computers when they became available to the general public, the LaMar’s store has progressed with technology.

Olsen enjoys seeing what the manufacturers come up with but he knows that the basic mechanics of the sewing machine will stay the same.

And he still holds on to extra parts for typewriter repair.