Everett Archives: 5 Bygone Businesses You Wish Were Still in Everett
Header image: Cow Butter Store // Courtesy Everett Museum of History
Everett is old enough that, at one time, most businesses were small simply because they didn’t have the technology (or economic expectation) to scale production. Our city has changed drastically over the past century, and along the way it has shed some of the great places that helped to define our community and neighborhoods.
Enjoy this curated selection of bygone businesses, many of them picked out because their business models were sustainable and local and/or just plain fun or quirky. And be sure to support your favorite modern small businesses in our community. Keep Everett a great place to live by spending your dollar in town!
The Original Milk House
Maybe you’ve had a cappuccino or latte at the new The Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. The coffee shop’s name is an homage to the original business that occupied the building next to the Totem Diner in the Glacier View neighborhood.
The original Milk House was open in the days when all food was local food. Dairy farmers of the Skykomish and Snohomish River Valleys brought their farm-fresh, grass-fed milk in metal cans to the Milk House for local distribution. Now that’s fresh. But the real secret value of the milk house, according to kids who grew up in that era, was the hand-dipped milkshakes. Yum!
The Original Grand Leader
Another modern take on an old business is The Grand Leader. Today, the building on the southeast corner of Hewitt and Hoyt is a home goods boutique. The original Grand Leader back in the day was a true department store, with an extra floor of merchandise downstairs as well as a mezzanine. It was a well-to-do place, selling upscale and imported cosmetics, yardage, bone china, ladies’ and children’s clothing. Today there aren't too many general retail stores left in the downtown core of Everett -- most retail moved to the south side of the city when the Everett Mall opened in the 1970s.
Monte Cristo Hotel Coffee Shop and Dining Rooms
Imagine the days of dining at a local hotel. It’s the Great Depression. All dinners are 75 cents. Apple pie is 10 cents, a la mode for 15 cents. All pies, cakes, butter horns, and puddings are handmade in-house. Your waitress wears a strange costume by modern standards -- stiff orange dresses with matching headbands. This was the scene at the Monte Cristo Hotel Coffee Shop and Dining Rooms.
Monte Cristo Hotel // Courtesy Everett Museum of History
I’d love to see a reprise of the Monte Cristo Coffee Shop model -- a place where you can plop down a few cents (or the equivalent price, adjusted for inflation) and get a no-nonsense cuppa joe without the lifestyle marketing. That’s the life!
The Gulls Nest
Just off Hewitt, up a flight of stairs, was the Gulls Nest. It was a wooden dance floor, open to kids from Everett High School. The Gulls Nest was ground zero for school dances, and thus it’s the social hub, a place for teens to see and be seen. Sock hops, formals, and school spirit rallies: the Gulls Nest (RIP) was once the heart of the Everett High School Seagulls.
The Cow Butter Store
You’re the son of a Norwegian fisherman. You’ve been raised on Scandinavian staples; they’re a part of your diet. Good thing there’s the Cow Butter Store, vendors of fine delicacies like hardtack, pecan rolls, sardines, anchovies, herring, lutefisk, and dried cod. In addition to these Nordic elements, they also offer hearty foods like veal, pork, bread, and potatoes. There are also peas, corn, and beans (though these are rarely requested, as most locals can their own produce).
The customer benefits of the Cow Butter Store? Buy on credit and get all groceries delivered to your home (sometimes by bicycle).
The Future of Small Business
What’s next for Everett small businesses? Move to Everett and support local vendors, or even better, build your own dream in this former mill town.
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