WHERE WE BEGAN…WHERE WE’RE GOING

There’s only one grocery company (and few other businesses) in Washington that can trace its beginnings all the way back to 1909.  That’s us!

That’s when George Cole and Linden Brown, two employees of the Lynden Department Store in northwest Washington, decided to open their own store in town, offering “a complete line of Staple and FANCY groceries.”  After a few years, Mr. Brown sold his interest in the business…but the name caught on, and it’s been Brown & Cole ever since.

For countless generations, Brown & Cole has meant food.  By 1960, when George Cole’s son Jack B. Cole assumed leadership of the business, it had changed and grown in many directions.  The food industry was moving away from corner, full-service stores that even delivered food to the large, self-service formats we know today.  Brown & Cole embraced that change, leading other businesses by enthusiastically adding such innovations as frozen food and ready-packaged meat well before its competitors.

When Jack’s son Craig became president in 1989, the company expanded into new markets beyond its northwest Washington roots. The company grew and remained competitive, using its size to buy in volume, and pass those savings along to its customers.

While many smaller grocery companies closed their doors or sold their businesses, Brown & Cole continued to add stores and refine its offerings.  Customizing each store to its unique community and its shoppers became a hallmark of Brown & Cole, and although the stores operate under different marketing group names (Cost Cutter, Food Pavilion, $ave-On-Food$, Everson Red Apple, Food Depot), each features a product selection tailored to the desires of local customers.

Today, Brown & Cole continues to evolve, as competition from mega supercenter stores aim to squeeze out locally-focused traditional supermarkets.  The company is aiming for friendly-sized, convenient-to-shop stores that offer value in dollars, ease and time-saving.  Change in this fast-paced world is the new constant, and Brown & Cole embraces that change, grounded by its most important assets: its customer-focused employees and the communities they serve, and the credo they live by:  Please The Customer First.