When Dave Thomas first told his son, Danny Thomas, that he was coming out of semi-retirement to open The Auburn Produce Market, Danny’s first reaction was predictable.
“I thought it was a joke at first,” Danny said. “I guess he needed something to do besides watch Oprah all day.”
After spending most of his life working as a cabinetmaker, Dave’s decision to open a retail produce stand might have seemed like an act of madness, or at least boredom, at first.
Dave, however, insists it wasn’t madness, but a sound business idea spurred on by the success of a friend who opened a similar store in Federal Way.
“(Retirement ) wasn’t quite that bad,” Dave answered. “It wasn’t like I was retired and had nothing to do.
“We were just looking for something else to do, something new and different,” he continued. “After so many years of doing the same thing, we needed something different.”
So Dave, 49, and Danny, 29 – who works full time as a project manager for an electrical company – took a cue from close friend Rick Burns, owner of Northshore Quality Produce in Federal Way, and started the process of opening up the market.
“We researched this,” he said. “The only other one locally was Carpinito Brothers in Kent, so there wasn’t really any other one in town. I got talking to Rick, and he’s doing pretty well, so I thought I would find a building and see what we could do down here.”
After a search of available properties in Auburn, the Thomases settled on an old oil change garage at 2121 Auburn Way N. and began the process of converting it to a produce market.
“Location was everything, and finding the building was key,” Dave said. “It was still a gamble, because of competition with the grocery stores up the street. But we’re hoping the public will want to come in and shop for the atmosphere. And I feel our prices are as good as the grocery stores or better on most items. We hope we’ll get a good base of customers who will want to shop here as opposed to a major grocery store for their produce items.”
Although neither Dave nor Danny knew much about produce coming in, they both said they had acquired enough business acumen from their professions to make the produce endeavor a little less scary.
“We knew how to run a business,” Dave said. “Danny runs a pretty good size crew and manages money for his company, and I had a business for a few years. So it wasn’t like we were totally ignorant going into the business part of it. It was just the produce part. And we’re still learning. It’s a new thing every day.”
Dave said that business has been good so far.
“It’s been steady, but not where we want it to be yet,” Dave said.
“It’s slowly picking up though,” Danny added.
“I think the weather has a lot to do with it,” Dave continued.
Dave explained that as the seasons change, the produce featured in the store will begin to shift to more Washington-grown fruits and vegetables.
“We’re starting to get approached by some farmers in Eastern Washington who grow cherries,” Dave said. “I have a guy coming from the Chelan area bringing apples. We’re looking forward to having that type of stuff. The asparagus is coming straight off the truck from Yakima.”
Dave added: “We had a guy come in about wild edibles. He picks wild mushrooms and wild berries, so we’ll probably set up a little section for that.”
Although the market carries several gourmet items, Dave insists that the store is not geared strictly to local gourmands.
“I don’t think the neighborhood will support that, we’re not trying to be a Metropolitan Market,” he said. “People aren’t going to want to spend that kind of money down here. But we have to offer all different types of produce for people. We want all kinds of clientele, because that’s what is going to keep our doors open.”
Dave said that the division of labor between him and his son has made running the shop a breeze.
“I do most of the buying and chasing the stuff down and getting stocked up for the weekend,” Dave said. “Danny works, but I can do all that stuff during the day.”
“I’m more into the budgeting aspects and money part of it,” Danny said. “I try to help out and make sure bills are getting paid. And I come in and close the store and make sure he’s not here on the weekends, so he can go out and do whatever he wants.”
Although the store has only been open for a month, Dave said he hopes to become a part of the fabric of life in Auburn.
“We’re hoping to be a little more established and become a fixture in the neighborhood,” Dave said. “We want to be permanent.”
Dave hopes to strike up a deal with local farmers and begin selling locally-grown produce.
But right now it’s just about digging in and making sure the customers are happy and that they come back.
“The positive thing is the accomplishment, getting the store set up and going,” Dave said. “The feedback we’ve gotten from people has been 99.9 percent positive.”
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WE’RE OPEN
• Business:
• Location: 2121 Auburn Way N
• Menu: In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, customers are provided with a variety of local products. For coffee drinkers, there is a selection of roasts from Seattle’s Caff Appassionato. In the snack department, there are chips and salsas from Penny’s in Auburn, dried fruits, nuts and trail mix from Sumner’s Nature’s World and Uncle Woody’s caramel corn made in Seattle.
A selection of gourmet condiments is joined with bread from the Coeur D’Alene French Baking Co. in Kent and Finales gourmet desserts in Lynnwood. The “Buck Bin” offers special deals on select produce and samples of products are available throughout the market.
• Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
• Information: 253-737-5561
