Sunday, October 09, 2011

5 Walla Walla Retail Stores That You May Have Forgotten


1. Wade's  (above) A men's clothing outlet on Main Street downtown, the owner was a neighbor of ours when we lived on Leonard Street and his boys were friends of mine.  Owner turned "Mod" in the early 70s and began wearing long hair and nehru jackets. 
2. Bergman's  A dress shop on West Main, owner left town but the store stayed in business for several more years.
3. Dan Reeders  Toy and hobby shop, was at Main and Spokane Streets,  owner was seriously injured in fireworks mishap
4. Davis Kaisers  A furniture store located on 2nd and Poplar.
5. The Leading Fur Shop  An outlet for Fur Coats and Minks. It was located on Alder and Colville

This is a pretty wide category,  on the next post, I'll come up with some forgotten service and industrial businesses.  I'm also open to suggestions.

7 comments:

Scotty Ray said...

Well Mike Barer let me tell you a story about Leading Fur Shop. It was one of very few businesses in Walla Walla that was owned by a Jewish merchant. My Mother wanted a fur wrap and heard from someone that the best time to buy from a Jewish merchant was the first thing on Monday morning.
It seems there is a Jewish merchant custom that if you sell something to the very first customer in your store on the very first day of the week, you will have very good sales for the rest of the week.
So, she carefully planned and executed a walk-in on Monday morning, came home with her fur wrap and said it was truly one of the greatest retail experiences of her life. Scotty Ray, a Valley guy.

Mike Barer said...

Great story, what have you been up to, Mr Ray.

Unknown said...

Ben Grecco's. Used to pick up and deliver dry cleaning.
A donut shop (think it was called Poplar donuts?) used to deliver. Kid on a bike I think.

Anonymous said...

Olympic Hardware on Main. It was the place to get boyscout gear before it closed. The Hub was a great place downtown as well.

Gary Quick said...

Tausick & Kaufmann on 9th and Rose. My Dad worked there in the early 40s shoveling coal. Remember when I was kid you could buy big blocks of ice from a vending machine on the side of the building, pretty cool thing in those days, no pun intended.

Bud Kauffman said...

Tausick & Kauffman was my great uncle JJ and Eugene Tausick.

I would love to find one of the branded ice pick and set of ice tongs. Lost mine in a fire in Tri-Cities in 1984.

Unknown said...

Bud. My grandfather delivered block ice all over town in the 20's and 30's for Tausick. He started with a horse cart and graduated to a panel truck. I've always wished I had his ice tongs.