Tuesday, February 24, 2015

October 2010: Pullman's Neill's Flowers & Gifts celebrates 100th anniverary



This posting provided 2/24/2015 to Facebook's "Remember Pullman when....." by PULLMAN :: Cup of the Palouse



=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.

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=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.

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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.”