If you’ve lived in the Snoqualmie Valley for a long time, chances are at some point you walked to the Milk Barn as a kid – for candy, soda or ice cream. It was the traditional corner store.
But it looks like the iconic presence at the corner of Railroad Ave and Meadowbrook Way is no longer. In the past two weeks the windows were blacked out and the Milk Barn silently went out of business.
According to one social media post the owners, who were “just chasing the American dream,” decided to close the longtime convenience store due to overwhelming competition from the Snoqualmie Casino Smoke Shop and the 76 Gas Station’s convenience store.
The Milk Barn’s history traces back decades. Before it was a convenience store, longtime Valley residents said it was a ‘true milk barn,’ serving ice cream – or the Snoqualmie Valley’s version of a soda bar.
There’s no word on what it will become – or if someone different will re-open it. So for now Mount Si High School students will have to stick with Herfy’s, which is independently owned and still in business and located in the same Milk Barn building.
Good Luck to the owners in their new pursuits.
Comments
That guy, that ran it, was incredibly rude. Chasing the American Dream isn’t running off potential customers that park in your parking spaces while running into the burger place next door. I could say I am sorry to see it close, but that would be a lie.
Literally just said the same thing to my wife.
I went in the store once.. to get milk!.. then I went to Herfy’s for burgers.. the milk barn owner became incensed and told me to move my car out of HIS SPOTS.. He was a rude man and when you get crabby and bitchy.. customers get mad and don’t come back. .I am not sad.. sorry that he couldn’t be a nice person.. bye
That’s what happens to when people don’t support small business sadly and choose major stores, 76 station, Starbucks, etc… 🙁
hey, the guy was a nasty man. .he deserved what he caused. .sorry. I go where folks are appreciative of my dollars.. this guy was more interested in a parking space.. fools paradise.. it has NOTHING to do with your supposition..sorry..
it is so sad I have talk to and met the owner who struggled to keep his store open …the owner and his wife ..never had a day off …but tried to save their dream by working 7 days aweek and all day and nite long …but ended up losing everything as I was told they were so down in their luck had to sleep in the store wow if anyone needs a kudos for never giving up they fought till they had nothing but debt! so we the people need to step up and maybe help the failing before it is to late hopeful there is a site that can be a go fund me for them they have earned that and then some help the little store they are us!
Maybe if the owner had been a little more friendly to his customers they would have stuck around. Small businesses need to practice customer service just as much big businesses, sometimes more so. Verbally abusing people is a surefire way to guarantee you won’t get a lot of repeat customers.
I will miss it. I really liked the family that owned it. They were always friendly to me and my family. They told me of having some of their regular customers tell them when Herfy’s first moved in that they were not able to get parking spots because of Herfy’s customers taking up all the spots. That is why they chased people out of their spots and this was their right. They needed every customer to survive hard times. Please put yourself in their shoes before speaking harshly of them. I wish them the best of everything.
I’ll miss the Milk Barn, I won’t miss the owner.
As a former employee of herfy’s I was around the guy often. He was not nice and I do not feel bad. If someone parked in his space he would come into our store and scream at our customers until they moved their car. I never saw him ask polity. Hope to see new owners in.
The owner is indeed a nasty man. He very rudely ran me off once, I told myself that I would never go back to that store and haven’t since. He will never have any success or “live the American dream” so long as he remains a total jerk to his customers.
Loved going there in high school for a quick drink and the teriyaki ALL the time with friends. Never had a problem, in fact he was always friendly and served us with a smile. But this was back before the valley blew up with all of the city transplants. This growth has been hard on a lot of us.
wow you people are terrible. He and his family are very nice people. They lost everything and your glad because you couldnt respect his need to have parking spots available for possible customers.
The invisible hand at work.
From what I can tell, the owner was nice to those that didn’t park in his spots. However, if someone comes into your store and buys something, then goes over to the burger place in the same location they should not be expected to move their car. Being polite goes a long way to earning customers. Tick someone off and they tell ten others. So it seems Karma is at work here.