Then and Now: Britt’s

Mon., Oct. 27, 2025

1924: Eager customers crowd around Britt’s, which opened its new location in 1924, replacing its store a block to the west. The new store at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Wall Street, expanded on the concept of a five-and-dime store which was already popular around the country, but this store was relabeled by owner John P. Brittan as a 5-cent to $1 store, expanding the price range of the inventory. The successful store chain was bought out by J.J. Newberry Co. around 1930 and greatly expanded after WWII. (Eastern Washington State Historical Society)

By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com (509) 459-5378

The popular discount stores of the early 20th century didn’t pop up overnight. Many startups and small chains either had merged or consolidated with bigger companies.

A distinctly American retail phenomenon, the five-and-dime store, which began in the 19th century and became wildly popular in the 20th century, had many different aspiring retailers trying new business ideas to draw in bargain-hunters.

One of the new entrepreneurs was John P. Brittan, who formed the Brittan Brothers company with his younger brother Percy. The brothers had worked in retail for several years before opening the first Britt’s discount store on Riverside Avenue in Spokane in 1915.

He and brother Percy would follow the Spokane opening with stores in Walla Walla, Yakima and Portland.

In 1924, the brothers moved their first store at Post Street and Riverside Avenue to a new location in the remodeled two-story Wolverton Building at Riverside and Wall Street. Shoppers reached the second floor via a long ramp, rather than a staircase, a novel concept at the time. The store’s name now included the phrase “5 cent to $1,” further expanding the inventory possibilities.

The Britt’s store followed the discount formula. Advertisements for the new store in 1924 offered wicker laundry baskets for 25 cents, brooms for 15 cents and salted peanuts for 10 cents a pound.

The J.J. Newberry company burst into the retail market after John Josiah Newberry started his first store in 1911 in Pennsylvania. The fast-growing company bought the Britt’s store chain around 1930 as it reached 300 stores.

In 1946, the company tore down the downtown Britt’s store and erected a new section combining more than half the block behind a single storefront around 1950. The lower level featured a long lunch counter.

There were also Newberry stores at Shadle Center and University City Mall.

J.P. Brittan died in 1935 at the age of 54 from a neuromuscular disease. Brother Percy stayed with the Newberry company for a few years and lived in Portland where he started other businesses. He died in 1947.

Following along with the general decline of dime stores through the late 20th century and the rise of other discount stores, the downtown Spokane Newberry closed in 1991.