Yoke's Fresh Market is an employee-owned

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

-based chain of

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

s founded in 1946 by Marshall and Harriet Yoke. The chain was established by their son Chuck in the 1960s and now encompasses 19 stores in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, primarily in the Spokane area. In 1990, Chuck sold the chain to the employees. John Bole currently directs company operations. In recent years, the chain has expanded into the southeastern portion of Washington, with stores in Pasco,

Kennewick Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

, West Richland, and Richland. The Liberty Lake Yoke's opened their doors on March 2, 2016, at the old Safeway/Haggen location. In September 2016, Yoke's Fresh Market expanded their stores total to 17 by acquiring Trading Company Stores locations in Cheney, Latah Creek (South Spokane), Spokane Valley, and Post Falls. Yoke's announced that it would acquire both Missoula Fresh Market (formerly Safeway) in

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

. The switch will take place by early fall 2022.

History

Yoke's Fresh Market was founded in 1946 in

, by Marshall and Harriet Yoke. In 1990, Chuck Yoke sold the chain of stores to the employees, thus forming an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

Locations

Spokane, Washington locations

* Airway Heights – 1151 S. Lyons *Argonne – 9329 E. Montgomery Ave. *Cheney – 4 Cheney-Spokane Rd (formerly Trading Company) * Deer Park – 810 S. Main St. *Indian Trail – 3321 W. Indian Trail Rd. *Latah Creek – 4235 S. Cheney-Spokane Rd (west of US-195) (formerly Tidyman's and Trading Company) *Liberty Lake – 1233 N. Liberty Lake Rd. (formerly Safeway and Haggen) *

Mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

– 14202 N. Market St. *North Foothills – 210 E. North Foothills Dr. *Sprague & McDonald – 13014 E. Sprague Ave (formerly Tidyman's and Trading Company) *Sprague – 15111 E. Sprague Ave. Store was closed in late 2010. *Wellesley – 4507 W. Wellesley Ave. Store was closed in September 2007.

Washington: other locations

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

– 1410 W. 27th Ave. *

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023. Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...

– 4905 Road 68 *

West Richland, Washington West Richland is a city in Benton County, Washington. The population was 16,295 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is part of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, whose principal cities (the Tri-Cities) are Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco ...

– 1401 Bombing Range Rd. * South Richland, Washington – 454 Keene Rd.

Idaho locations

Kellogg, Idaho Kellogg is a city in the Silver Valley (Idaho), Silver Valley of Shoshone County, Idaho, Shoshone County, Idaho, United States, in the Idaho Panhandle region. The city lies near the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and about 36 miles (58 km) ...

– 117 N. Hill St. * Ponderay, Idaho – 212 Bonner Mall Way *

Post Falls, Idaho Post Falls is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the gateway city to Northern Idaho off Interstate 90, just west of Coeur d'Alene, and east of Spokane, Washington. The population is an estimated 44,798 in 2023 according to ...

– 1501 E. Seltice Way (formerly Tidyman's and Trading Company)

Montana locations

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

- 3801 S. Reserve St (opened in fall 2022) (formerly Safeway and Missoula Fresh Market) *Missoula, Montana - 800 W. Broadway Ave (opened in fall 2022) (formerly Safeway and Missoula Fresh Market)

References

External links

Yoke's Fresh Market
{{Supermarkets of the United States Employee-owned companies of the United States Supermarkets of the United States American companies established in 1946 Retail companies established in 1946 Companies based in Spokane, Washington 1946 establishments in Washington (state)