New Yoke’s store the latest showing of an ‘exploded’ population in Airway Heights

Up until last week, many Airway Heights residents had bought their bread, eggs and milk at the same storefront for decades.

The low-lying box store at 12825 W. Sunset Ave. has housed some iteration of a grocery since 1972, when the Public Market Warehouse Foods moved into the 14,000-square-foot building, according to newspaper archives. At the time, their only rival was the commissary on Fairchild Air Force Base.

John Aiken Jr., a nearly 60-year West Plains resident and former market employee, said it was the first large grocery of its kind in the region. It sold items in bulk, and grease pencils were kept at the door so shoppers could mark down prices on their items before checkout.

“It was crowded all the time, and we didn’t have very many sacks,” Aiken said. “It was all done in boxes, because like I said, everything was done in bulk.”

In 1978, a fire caused a reported $1 million in damages to the structure, and the owners decided to expand the store to nearly triple the size in the rebuilding process, Aiken said. Super Buy Supermarket moved in a few years later.

The expansion served Super Buy just fine, but it paved the way for the eventual longtime occupant, Yoke’s Fresh Market, to convert the over 45,000-square-foot building into the town’s first modern department grocery – complete with a delicatessen, butcher’s counter, floral shop, pharmacy and full-service bakery.

Nearly a quarter-century later, Yoke’s Fresh Market continues to evolve alongside one of Washington’s fastest-growing communities. The employee-owned grocery opened the doors to a new, roughly 50,000-square-foot location off South Lyons Road on Oct. 14.

“I think it is a reflection of how much the community is growing, and Yoke’s is a part of that growth,” City Manager Albert Tripp said.

The town seems to be changing by the day, said Sammy Mercer, who has lived in Airway Heights for 18 years.

Housing developments are going up at a dizzying rate to keep up with the area’s population growth, and the West Plains continues to attract large companies and commercial outfits that bring hundreds of jobs for those new residents. The town’s population has nearly doubled since 2010, with around 11,000 now calling the community home, according to U.S. Census data.

A drive down the highway that bisects the town illustrates the growth, Mercer said. The stretch used to be mostly mom-and-pop shops next to empty plots; now, those stands are nestled next to new box stores, gas stations, towering apartment complexes and a pair of casinos.

“I used to come through here and there wasn’t anything but empty land,” Mercer said. “And if I was smart, I would have bought a ton of it. Then I could have retired instead of having to work when I’m 75.”

Mercer’s not the only resident kicking themselves; property values have skyrocketed over the decades. Aiken recalled seeing vacant land go for around $100 when he first started home shopping in the 1970s.

“Many of my friends that own farmland there are now multimillionaires because of the housing boom,” Aiken said. “I hardly even recognize Airway Heights anymore compared to what it used to look like.”

Aiken is happy to see the growth in Airway Heights, saying it’s a marked improvement from what the town was like when he was growing up. He said it was not much more than a “speed-trap” for drivers, as the only indication you had entered the city limits was a dramatic decrease in the speed limit along the highway.

“It was just a place for GIs to go drinking,” Aiken said.

Aiken believes the development boom in Airway Heights can be traced back to Walmart’s move to town in the early 2000s. He said that started the tidal wave of new business on the West Plains, and set the town on a different path than his current home of Medical Lake, which has seen businesses decline and a relatively stable population between 4,000 to 5,000 people since the early 2000s.

Since the time the first major grocery opened in Airway Heights in the early 1970s, Airway Heights has become one of the fastest-growing towns in Eastern Washington, spiking in population by more than 1346%, according to the U.S. Census. No other town or city that was incorporated in Spokane County by 1970 grew anywhere near as fast. The next highest population increase in that 50-year span to 2020 was Deer Park at 238%. Spokane grew by 34%, Medical Lake by 38%.

“It’s the opposite of what we’re seeing in Airway Heights,” Aiken added. “You gotta have people with vision and planning, and you gotta have business. You gotta have jobs; people have to work.”

But Walmart, like many of the businesses in the area, was drawn by the success of Northern Quest Casino, which brought in more than $6 million in proceeds in its first quarter of operation in 2001. The Kalispel Tribe of Indians began lobbying big box stores to build on land it owns within city limits shortly after the casino opened its doors.

“The casinos came in, and this area just exploded,” Aiken said.

Last Monday, two decades after their initial probes, the new Yoke’s location opened on land owned by the tribe.

The store is vast and features many modern amenities, including a wrap-around deli, cheese counter, sushi window, coffee stand and accompanying seating area at the store’s entrance.

“It’s absolutely one of the nice additions to the West Plains,” Airway Heights resident Mike Carver said. “Everything about it is top drawer, including the staff.”

Married couple Loren and Joy Williams said they were impressed with the size of the new location, the expanded offerings and the produce section. Although prices tend to be a bit higher than at the nearby Walmart, Loren Williams said Yoke’s offerings tend to be of higher quality.

“The produce is usually better, their meat is better,” Williams said. “It’s like that with all kinds of stuff.”

Stephanie Crownover, marketing and public relations director for Yoke’s Fresh Markets, said the company looks forward to continuing to serve West Plains residents. The supermarket helps sponsor or support a number of programs, including the local Kiwanis club and the city’s parks department.

“It’s just so exciting to see the city of Airway Heights grow, and to be able to provide this to the community,” Crownover said.

Former Airway Heights Mayor Matthew Pederson said the store’s opening is emblematic of the decades of work local leaders have put into the city. He remembers Yoke’s leadership started discussing finding a new location when he joined the council in 2002.

“Many of those items are long-term goals for the city that have been steadily worked on by multiple generations of city council and staff members,” who Pederson said have “a community vision that maintains their own identity within the region and tries to stray away from being just a bedroom community.”

Pederson was a lifelong resident until he relocated to Texas for work in 2020, but he said he still considers Airway Heights home. He sees the growth and development in flashes when he comes to visit family.

“There’s a lot going on,” Pederson said. “The city takes significant steps to be self-sufficient and have commercial and industrial growth, along with the residential. That creates a really good balance and quality of life.”

“And for me, coming in every four to six months, it’s always good to see,” he added.