The J.K. Gill Company, also known as J.K. Gill and Gill's, was an office supply company specializing in books and school supplies, based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, United States. The company existed for about 130 years. Operating mainly in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

states of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, the company at its peak employed over 500 and had retail stores in four western states, including California and Arizona.

History

While teaching in 1866 at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

under the supervision of

Thomas Milton Gatch Thomas Milton Gatch (January 28, 1833 – April 23, 1913) was an American educator and politician in Oregon. He served one term as mayor of Salem, Oregon, was the president of what would become Oregon State University, served as president of ...

, recent graduate Joseph K. Gill purchased a school supply company in Salem, Oregon, and opened a small bookstore there in 1867. In 1868, Gill built a new, larger store with partner C.F. Yeaton in Salem, and in 1870 he sold his business to Yeaton and moved to Portland. There he formed a partnership with George A. Steel and purchased the Harris and Holeman stationery store at the corner of Front and Washington Streets ( ). In February 1872, the company acquired W. T. Shanahan's music store and relocated to the Holmes Building on 1st Street (now 417 SW First Ave.). The move was strategic, as it positioned the company near the Ladd and Tilton Bank at First and Stark. Alongside their existing range of books, stationery, and office supplies, the company also began to sell pianos and organs. After Steel's departure in May 1873 with the music business, the firm was rebranded as J.K. Gill and Company. The company briefly split its wholesale and retail operations, remaining at First and Oak under the name W.B. Ayer and Co. and opening the J.K. Gill wholesale warehouse near the

Skidmore Fountain The Skidmore Fountain is a historic fountain in Portland, Oregon, United States. The fountain is a contributing property of and the namesake for the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, which is also a National Historic Landmark. The fountain ...

. In 1888 the two branches of the company were reunited under the name J.K. Gill, and in 1893 the company moved to the former

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

at Third and Alder.

In 1922 the company began construction of a new headquarters at Fifth and Stark under the direction of architects Sutton & Whitney. Estimated cost of the eight-story building was $300,000, and total cost including land and furnishings was about $600,000. At that time, J.K. Gill was considered the largest distributor of books in the

and the largest business of its kind in any city in the United States the size of Portland. From at least the 1880s, publication of books, lithographs, and maps was also part of the business. Gill's Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon was a standard reference for trappers and traders doing business among the

Chinook people Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the Lower and Middle Columbia River (W ...

. After the death of founder Joseph K. Gill in 1931, the company continued to grow. In the 1960s a shift away from downtown stores began, and by 1990 the chain's stores were located mostly in shopping malls. Ownership of the company remained with the Gill family until 1970, when the firm was sold to

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of VML, founded in 1992, and Young & Rubica ...

. At that time, there were 11 stores in Oregon and Washington and $13.8 million in annual sales. Young & Rubicam expanded the business, and by 1979 there were 36 stores in three states and annual sales exceeded $40 million (equivalent to $ million in ). J.K. Gill was acquired by Bro-Dart Industries in September 1980, becoming a subsidiary of that company. At the time, the company employed about 500 people and its total of 36 stores comprised 27 in Oregon and

, and nine in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. By early 1984, J.K. Gill had added two stores in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and had 13 in Oregon, 15 in Washington, and an unspecified number in California. The company's

flagship store A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found ...

, in the J. K. Gill Company Building at 5th and Stark, closed in 1991. (

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Th ...

began leasing space in the J.K. Gill Building in 1978 and purchased the nine-story building in 1988, for use by offices of the county's Health Department.) The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in February 2021. In the 1990s, amid increasing competition from larger, national companies, Gill's was forced out of business. Its last stores closed in 1999.

References

External links

History of Portland, Oregon
by H.W. Scott (D. Mason and Co., 1890), Joseph Gill biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, J. K. Retail companies established in 1867 Retail companies disestablished in 1999 Defunct retail companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Oregon Office supply companies of the United States 1868 establishments in Oregon 1999 disestablishments in Oregon

History

See also

References

External links