Topic: Business
The visionary behind Washington's esteemed Red Willow Vineyard is Mike Sauer (b. 1947), a farmboy from Toppenish who studied agricultural economics at Washington State University. After marrying fello...
The School of Visual Concepts, originally called the New School of Visual Concepts, trained students and professionals in marketing, communications, and design skills. When founded in 1971 by husband-...
Of all the Pacific Northwest's pioneering record companies, it was Seafair Records that perhaps best embodied Seattle's innocent early days when a good honest effort would bring success. A true "mom ...
Piers 54, 55, and 56 are home to today's Ivar's Acres of Clams restaurant and the renowned Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. The Northern Pacific Railroad built the piers during the golden age of Seattle's mari...
This file contains an undated, unsigned letter describing what it was like working at Seattle City Light in the early years, around 1910. The letter is held in the Seattle Municipal Archives. It descr...
Address: 1130 Rainier Avenue S, Seattle. In 1914, George G. Black wanted a new home for the manufacture of his Black Bear brand of overalls. He was concerned for the health and welfare of his employee...
Seattle's Belltown neighborhood just north of downtown was home to the Northwest's Film Row even before the dawn of "talkies" in the late 1920s. Hollywood's major movie studios based regional distribu...
This reminiscence by the then-bank teller Dorothea Pfister (later Nordstrand) (1916-2011) recounts the events of a rather alarming day at the Green Lake State Bank, located in the Green Lake neighborh...
Shelly’s Leg (1973-1977) was Seattle’s first disco, an unapologetically gay establishment that welcomed revelers of every sexuality. It was named after Shelly Bauman, a Florida transplant ...
Phil Smart started selling automobiles in 1952 in Seattle and built the area's first and most-successful Mercedes-Benz dealership. He gave much of his time and effort to community service, particularl...
While Snohomish County's journalistic history broadly mirrors patterns seen throughout the state, the county can claim one of the earliest territorial newspapers, six labor and socialist publications,...
At nearly 1.7 million square feet, Southcenter Mall in the south King County city of Tukwila enjoys the distinction of being Washington's largest mall. Planning for it began in 1957, but the project n...
The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train brought the romance of the rails to King County's Eastside for 15 years from 1992 to 2007. For a price guests enjoyed an excursion through the communities east of...
John Wilson Sprague was born in the state of New York, became a successful businessman in Ohio, served the Union cause with distinction during the Civil War, and then moved to the Northwest in 1870 as...
Richard Hall of Coupeville offers this account of the business his grandfather, Stanton Hall, built in Everett. Stanton Hall later served as a member and as president of the Washington State Universit...
Seattle-based Starbucks is a multi-national corporation that sells coffee drinks, coffee beans, food, and beverages at its retail stores as well as wholesale to other outlets. When the first Starbucks...
Elllsworth Storey, one of Seattle's most popular architects, combined contemporary trends in domestic architecture with local materials. His approach created a number of houses and public works ground...
Elbridge A. Stuart created the firm that became the Carnation [evaporated milk] Company in 1899 in Kent, Washington. Carnation became one of the world's largest milk-product companies. In 1910, Stuart...
Gordon H. Sweany was a Seattle lawyer and the chairman of the board of SAFECO Corp. Under his leadership, SAFECO grew into one of the 20 largest diversified financial corporations in the United State...
Sidney Thal was one of Seattle's most beloved personalities. In 1948, he and his wife Berta Thal (1911-1996) purchased Fox's Gem Shop in downtown Seattle and transformed it into a leading retailer of ...
In 1954 three Klineburger brothers -- Gene (b.1920), Bert (b.1926), and Chris (b.1927) -- bought the Jonas Brothers taxidermy studio in Seattle and by the early 1960s turned it into one of the largest...
Architect Harlan Thomas provided Seattle with an array of well-executed designs including the Sorrento Hotel and Harborview Hospital. He also designed schools in Aberdeen, Monroe, and Enumclaw, World ...
Harvey Vern Thomas (1920-1987) led an active and multi-faceted life as a musician, a machinist, a businessman -- and a notoriously fun-loving prankster. But it was his role as the luthier responsible ...
Roscoe Conkling Torrance, known as Torchy, was a Seattle printer and civic booster. Among his numerous civic causes he was best known as an unflagging sports fan, a tireless booster of the University ...