=Saluting Pullman's Neill's Flowers & Gifts: 100th
anniversary celebration 10/21/2010
URL link to YouTube-posted video slideshow:
Get in the time machine and travel back to October of
2010. Also see representations of Neill's Flowers in its earlier iterations.
…………………………..
=100th birthday Neill's Flowers & Gifts downtown
Pullman 10/21/2010
URL link to video slideshow:
This video slideshow is NOT YouTube posted and might not
be accessible, especially for those using smartphones. Video player has better
chance of working on tablets, laptops and desktops.
……………………
Friday,
October 15, 2010
News
from … Neill's Flowers & Gifts, 234 E Main St, Pullman, Wash. 99163-2619
Neill’s
Flowers & Gifts in Pullman celebrates
century of service Oct. 22-23, 2010
PULLMAN,
Wash. – One hundred years of serving customers will be celebrated by Neill’s
Flowers & Gifts in Pullman with a two-day public celebration this month.
On
Friday, Oct. 22, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., the
downtown Pullman shop at 234 East Main St., will be open for business with a
celebratory motif. The shop’s history will highlight the time it was a soda
fountain and candy store.
“This
means free ice cream sundaes will be served to everyone who visits the store,”
said Mitch Chandler, owner of the popular gift and floral shop.
“During
our celebration we will bring out menus, photos and other items that many of
our longtime customers will remember,” Chandler said. “We will add to our
display the shop's original candy scale, typewriter and many other items.”
Roy
Neill started the business in 1910 as Cougar View Greenhouses on Military Hill
between Lark and Charlotte Streets. He made daily deliveries to Dutton's
Confectionery on Main Street where people could buy fresh flowers from a stand.
In
1920, he bought the present store which was a different confectionary. From
1920 to 1940 it was a combination soda fountain, grill and flower shop. It was
a popular hangout for Washington State College students.
The
store was remodeled in 1940. The fountain and grill close and the name changed
from Neill’s Sweet Shop to Neill’s Flowers and Gifts.
Over
the years, Neill family members – adults and children – worked in the
shop. In 1945, after serving in the
military during World War II, Greg and Tillie Neill, Roy’s son and
daughter-in-law, joined the business and took it over in 1957 when Roy retired.
In
1978, Greg and Tillie sold the shop to Chandler and his wife, Mary Jo, who
moved from Boise, Idaho.
With
the Chandler ownership, there was a bit of remodeling and the start of a
special tradition in Pullman: the shop’s annual Christmas Open House, usually
held on a Sunday in November. During the event, hundreds of area families will
stop by to pick out the latest in holiday gifts, stuff themselves with Mary Jo
Chandler’s delicious hors d oeuvres and visit with three generations of the
Chandler family home to help with the major event.
Mitch
Chandler and his staff show their community spirit as Neill’s Flowers and Gifts
is a spot where clubs can sell tickets for their events and others display
posters for activities. Chandler worked to develop a healthy business community
and led the Chamber of Commerce board and Pullman itself as the city’s mayor.
“I’m
looking forward to this celebration,” said Mitch Chandler. “It’s an opportunity
to thank everyone, including families who have been the shop’s customers for
many generations.
“Neill’s Flowers and Gifts is an institution with a
history of not only contributing to Pullman’s economic vitality, but also
supporting community events,” he said. “I am very pleased that Greg Neill, now
90 years old and living in Pullman, will be taking part in the festivities.”
