In 1922, George and Sarah Chapman built a grocery store on the SW corner of James and River Streets (335th Pl SE and SE Redmond-Fall City Road). Chapman's Store was the first store in town with a refrigerated meat case. The Chapmans lived in an apartment which they had built on the west side of the store. Photo above shows the interior of the store c 1925. Mary Burns is at the cash register; boy is Harold Gochnour. The ad is from the Fall City High School newsletter, Fall City Spirit, 1922.
William R. "Reg" Johnson and his wife Margaret bought the Chapman Store in 1928 and proceeded to add general merchandise. The photo above shows Johnson's Cash Store in 1928. The Johnsons and their three children lived in the apartment on the west side of the building. In 1931, Margaret gave birth to her fourth child, Mary, and Margaret died the next day, leaving Reg to raise all four kids.
Jack Kelley remembered that Johnson's Store was the place to be whenever the Alpine Dairy truck stopped to restock the ice cream. George Ek was the driver and he always passed out Dixie Cups of ice cream and orange sherbet to any kids who passed by. No matter how many kids were lined up beside his truck, no one was left out.
About 1932, the building was moved towards the back of the lot to make room for the widening and paving of the Redmond-Fall City Road. Radio had become a big home entertainment feature and Reg added radios and electrical appliances to his line of goods. The appliance business boomed and Reg opened an appliance store in Meadowbrook (part of Snoqualmie) and soon thereafter sold the grocery business to the Gideons. His wife Grace Johnson retained ownership of the building and property.
In 1938, Dode and Mame Gideon bought the grocery business from Reg Johnson. Both of the Gideons were getting up in years and definitely not the personalities one would find in a small town retail business. According to Jack Kelley's account, Mame was a penny pincher and Dode appeared to follow his wife's lead in dealing with customers. Prices were high, quality low and customer satisfaction was virtually non-existent.
Al Slott was operating a milk and egg business in Bremerton, Washington, and in 1944 found what he saw as a "money-maker." He could see the Gideons were driving business away faster than it was coming in the front door and made them an offer for the business. Fortunately for the community, the Gideons accepted and Al Slott was a new member of the business crowd on River Street. Al's "can-do" personality revitalized the store and soon the business exceeded his expectations. Around 1956, Al could see that television reception here in the Snoqualmie Valley was very poor and the TV cable company wasn't doing much better. The owners of the TV cable company were technicians lacking in business background. Al sold the grocery store, moved to North Bend and went into dealing with TV cable.
Gordon (nicknamed "Buzz") Weller and Bruce and Hazel Chisholm bought the grocery business from Al Slott in 1956 and named it Fall City Foods. Buzz lived in North Bend and soon wanted to get into a store closer to home. Mac Pearson was cutting meat at the store and bought Weller's interest. Fall City Foods continued until 1963.
Don Bluher grew up in Fall City, and worked at Al Slott's Store while he was in high school. After college and some years of teaching in Port Angeles, he returned to Fall City. In 1963, he bought the grocery business (inventory and equipment) from Mac and Ethel Pearson and Hazel Chisholm and began operating as Bluher's Market.
In 1967, Don bought the building and property to the west of the store from Clara and Howard Stow, and in 1968, he purchased the grocery store building and property from Grace Johnson.
In January 1972, he sold the equipment and inventory to Gene and Janice Eckberg, who operated the store briefly, until it burned in the spring of that year. The store and its contents were a total loss. After the fire, Don reclaimed the destroyed building and property. He removed the damaged building and cleaned and leveled the lot in time for the Fall City Centennial Celebration in June, then created a parking lot in that area. In the fall, construction began on the 5,000 sq. ft. building currently in use, on the lot to the west of the original location.
While he was in high school, and for a year after he graduated in 1961, Gene Stevens worked as checker and box boy at Fall City Foods. He married Carol Floyd in 1965, after she graduated from Mount Si High School. Gene and Carol lived in Ellensburg about 1967 to 1970, where Gene finished his degree at Central Washington University. They then returned to Fall City, and Gene went to work at the Weyerhaeuser plywood mill.
In 1972, when Don Bluher was building a new "corner store" after the disastrous fire that wiped out the original building, Gene and Carol decided they would like to join the long line of Fall City grocers; they were able to raise enough money from friends and family to lease the building from Don and get started. The new store opened on December 28, 1972 and went on to become the longest continuous "corner grocery" to date. The business started out as the Family Food Center, as shown in the 1979 photo above and the 1988 ad below. It was changed in 1996 to the Family Market. "Family" has been the operative word, as many Stevens family members worked in the store, including their four children.
Gene and Carol continued the tradition of strong ties to the Fall City Volunteer Fire Department, as had earlier owners. Don Bluher and Gene Stevens both served as volunteer firefighters, with Gene putting in 25 years before his retirement from the department. Gene always encouraged his staff and employees to volunteer, and if a fire call came through, Carol might end up "minding the store" on her own for a while.
One of the earmarks of Gene and Carol's store was a love of local history. On the walls over the coolers and meat cases, glimpses of Fall City history were displayed. In the photo above, young Gene Stevens gives a tour of photos to customer Ed Opstad Sr. In 1996, an artist was commissioned to paint a mural on the storefront, depicting Fall City's past grocers. The center portion is shown below in a 2005 Judy Kelley photo. Chief Jerry Kanim and the Snoqualmie Falls were also shown, in side panels of the mural.
In 2002, Gene and Carol were honored by being chosen as grand marshals for the Fall City Days Parade. The photo above is from a 2002 Fall City Neighbors Newsletter article. When the Stevens' lease ended in 2006, the business passed to Jay Bluher.
Jay Bluher lived in Fall City from the age of one and remembers "growing up in the store" as his dad, Don Bluher, operated Bluher's Market. He started working at Stevens' Family Market when he was thirteen. Later he held positions in a variety of retail businesses. In 1997, he indicated to Gene and Carol that he would like to purchase the business when they were ready to retire in 2001, and worked at the Family Market from 1997 to 2001. When Gene and Carol chose to extend their lease for another five years, Jay took the opportunity to accept a career Firefighter/EMT position in Fall City for that period and felt it was an honor to serve his community in that way.
At the end of 2006, Jay began a remodel on the store, and Opening Day for Farmhouse Market was February 9, 2007. Photos below were taken by John Lazenby for an article on Opening Day in the March 2007 Fall City Neighbors Newsletter.