Before there was Safeway (1977) and long before QFC (1989), there was the Enumclaw Food Center situated at the corner of Cole Street and Initial Avenue, where the Chamber of Commerce, Arts Alive, and a large parking lot are now located. But, the Food Center was actually an outgrowth of the farm cooperative which had served Enumclaw for 50 years prior: the Rochdale Company. In 1905, local citizens including Joshua A. Morris, Eugene Cota, Charles Johnson, James Montgomery, J.P. Jones, John Fleming, and Louis Nicholas organized a farmers’ cooperative store. They named it Rochdale in honor of the town in England where tradesmen had banded together to acquire and resell food items and other goods they couldn’t purchase economically on an individual basis. Thus were born the Rochdale Principles, which formed the origins of the consumer co-operative movement.
In Enumclaw farmers bought shares for $25, entitling each to one vote. They were able to both take advantage of bulk purchasing, and could also sell their produce locally without incurring expensive transportation costs when selling elsewhere. Profits were returned to shareholders through annual dividends. In its first 25 years, the store returned over $100,000 to its members. The first manager of the Enumclaw Rochdale was Anton C. Johnson, followed by Petrus Nelson. This photo likely dates to their era. The signs on the side of the building promote S.L. Sorenson, the Farmers’ Mutual Insurance salesman and Pearline, a then popular line of soap and detergent products. In time the Enumclaw Rochdale’s merchandise included groceries, fruits, vegetables, clothing, hardware, machinery, and furniture. The company’s motto was “Owned by the People of the Community.” The Rochdale store was rebuilt, then enlarged in 1940 to include Carl Johansen’s meat market. However by 1955, the pioneering farmers’ co-operative closed shop. The building was completely remodeled and purchased by local investors and grocery-men: George Kranc, Walter Yonkers, Pete Kranz, Bill Dunning, and Jim Arnette. They renamed it the Enumclaw Food Center, which prospered for decades. But a small grocery store in a downtown location without sufficient parking could not withstand competition from new supermarkets built on the edge of town. The Food Center was demolished and the property purchased by the City of Enumclaw in 1989.
