Then and Now: Greenough’s grocery store

The Greenough brothers – Wilbur, Thomas, Joseph and John – were from Kansas and later Missoula. Wilbur, known as W.D., was the eldest, born in 1874. The men made their fortunes mining in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

John, known as “Brush,” left in 1910 to ranch in Wyoming while the others went into retail, railroads and mining. Those three brothers opened a grocery store in Mullan, Idaho, in 1898 and Wallace in 1906. The family opened a store in Spokane in 1918 at Sprague and Howard.

Thomas, known as T.L., lived in Missoula and was a railroad contract builder. Joseph lived in Spokane, but Wilbur was the managing partner. In 1924, Wilbur Greenough was fined $25 for selling meat on Sunday, violating an arcane list of what could be sold on that day. He organized grocers against the law.

In 1929, the Greenoughs opened their store at Sixth Avenue and Washington Street. The store incorporated all the latest trends: It was self-service, it had off-street parking, and there was a beauty parlor, pharmacy, gas station and soda fountain. As one of the first suburban markets, the location was convenient for South Hill residents.

W.D. made his son Franklin the manager and went to the Yukon to work the mines there. He also owned a mine in the Clayton, Washington, area. W.D. died of a heart attack in December 1934. Business carried on with Franklin, who served in the Navy in World War II, and the rest of the family. The activities of the children and grandchildren of the wealthy Greenoughs filled the society pages of the region’s newspapers.

Glen Dow, founder of the Glen Dow Academy of Hair Design, took over the salon at Greenough’s in 1960. Grandson Peyton Greenough and the store manager, John Weekes, bought the business from the rest of the family in 1957. Weekes bought out his partner in 1970.

Over the years, large suburban shopping centers lured customers away from independents like Greenough’s. The Ridpath Hotel family owned the Greenough’s building and the store lost its lease in 1985.

“The store continued to be profitable,” Weekes said of the closing. “But the loyalty of our customers is tied to this neighborhood. If we were to move to another part of the city, we couldn’t take that with us.”