Neighborhood grocery stores were once a common sight in Olympia. The Eastside Trading Company – located at 1901 East Fourth Avenue – was a hub for shoppers on the Eastside from the 1920s to the early 1980s. And it sold much more than food.
Olympia’s Eastside Trading Company Opens
On Wednesday, October 26, 1921, a small store opened at the corner of East Fourth Avenue and Fairview Street. Owners were David “Dave” Gammell and a “Mr. Ault.” Gammell operated a grocery store on Vashon Island before moving to a ranch at South Bay the year before. Ault had recently moved from Tacoma.
These “practical grocerymen,” the Morning Olympian declared, had “installed a line of general merchandise, hardware, groceries and feed, the entire line being new and fresh. The building is new, the stock and fixtures are new, everything is new and first class.” The owners hoped to attract out of town shoppers as well as people from the mostly working-class neighborhood.
Gammell and Ault named their store the East Side Trading Company. By the mid-1920s, this name was smashed together as the Eastside Trading Company. Sometimes it was shortened to Eastside Trading Co. It was a bold choice, because it was not the only neighborhood grocery store in the area. Their main rival was the Apex Grocery (1841 East Fourth Avenue), located just across Fairview Steet. It had opened a mere three months before the Eastside Trading Company.
The Eastside Trading Company supported local businesses, selling “home” products, including produce. Customers could find more than food. The 1923-1924 Olympia City Directory records that the Eastside Trading Company sold “staple groceries, hay, seeds, flour, feed, hardware, notions, and dry goods.”
Eastside Trading Company Joins Grocery Organizations
Ault soon dropped out of the business. In 1928 the Eastside Trading Company, together with several other Olympia groceries, joined the Unity Purity Stores. Sponsored by the Younglove Grocery Company, a Tacoma wholesale grocery business, United Purity was an organization of independent retail grocers. The group promised savings for customers and increased profits for business owners. At the time the Eastside Trading Company joined, United Purity had 184 Tacoma locations and 60 elsewhere.
While retaining its independence, customers welcomed the change. These neighborhood stores, Daily Olympian “Doing the Markets with Helen” columnist promised on January 6, 1933, were “uniformly clean and the prices compare favorably with those of the larger stores in the heart of town.”
Joining the organization helped the Eastside Trading Company weather the Great Depression. It was a difficult time for business, even groceries. The store cooperated with New Deal’s National Recovery Act (NRA). In 1935 the store joined IGA Food Stores, another independent retail grocery organization.
Eastside Trading Company Changes Owners
Elected city commissioner of finance, David Gammel decided to leave the grocery business to concentrate on his new office. He sold the business and stock to Carroll S. Bonsall in 1935. He retained ownership of the building and fixtures, however, leasing them to Bonsall.
After the death of Mayor F.A. Longaker in 1938, Gammell was appointed to serve out the rest of his term. Gammell was mayor for three years, losing the next election to Truman Trullinger.
Gammell sold the store building in 1945. The Eastside Trading Company joined Shurfine Stores in 1948. Bonsall sold the store to his son William in 1956 and retired. William Bonsall was a University of Washington graduate and co-founded the first cooperative on campus. He served in the merchant marines during World War II.
In 1956, the Eastside Trading Company joined Wildwood Market and Harold’s Market to form the Associated Grocers Inc. Also known at A.G. Stores, the group changed its name three years later to Serv-U.
Eastside Trading Company Adapts to Changing Times
Times were changing and the grocery business with it. The Eastside Trading Company now had to compete with supermarkets. Ralph’s Thriftway was built across Fourth Avenue in 1956, drawing away customers. But the Eastside Trading Company managed to adapt. The store underwent a remodel in 1960, adding more refrigeration units for frozen food. It even began opening on Sundays in the mid-1960s. It also offered ordering by phone.
In 1967 a car jumped the curb and rammed into the west side of the store, doing minor damage to the outside of the building and knocking items off the shelves. The driver ran off.
Bonsall sold the business to Jim Ammons in 1978. He sold the store to Harry and Joan Drittenbas in 1979. The couple celebrated a grand opening on October 26 and 27. Customers could enter to win free groceries and enjoyed purchasing celebratory Pepsi, hotdogs and ice cream.
But the grocery market was changing and the Eastside Trading Company could not compete with national supermarkets. The Eastside Trading Company closed its doors a final time in 1981. Its rival the Apex Grocery held on, burning down in 2003.
Remembering the Eastside Trading Company
While the store is closed, many people still have fond memories of the store. My father’s family often shopped there while my father was growing up. And through their church Westminster United Presbyterian, my grandmother Arleen Crooks was friends with both the Drittenbas family and William “Bill” Lovett (1916-1983). Born in in Ontario, Lovett was produce manager at the Eastside Trading Company for many years. He served on an underwater demolition team in the South Pacific during World War II.
During its 60 years of operation, the Eastside Trading Company was a community landmark. Its employees and owners were a part of the neighborhood the store called home.
