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Ken's Market, a neighborhood grocery store, was opened in 1945 by Ken and Lola Johnson. It was located at the corner of Eighth and F Streets in Petaluma and operated until 1974. Anyone who lived in West Petaluma during those years probably has vivid memories of the store and its proprietor, Ken Johnson.
Ken was born in Iowa and came to Redwood City in about 1923, graduating from Sequoia High School in 1925. He had already begun working for Purity Stores predecessor, Sunshine.
In 1929 he was sent to Petaluma as a temporary manager for Purity located in the Linch Jewelry building on Western Avenue. He moved into Jessie Hames' Boarding House, where he met all her daughters, including Lola. Pictured here are Ken and Lola, in 1930.
In the 1930s the store moved to Western and Kentucky Streets, later to be replaced by the Leader/Carithers Building, currently known as Couches, Etc. In 1940 Ken opened the Purity 'Super Market' on the site of the First Methodist Church, the current site of Petaluma Market. Many thought the arched building was an aircraft hangar, but it was a building design that was consistent with other Purity Markets throughout California.
By 1944, Ken decided he had enough of Purity and located a small corner grocery at Eighth and F Streets in Petaluma. The prior owner had converted a small dairy company building into a grocery. They lived in a building at the rear of the store.
On Monday, January 1, 1945, Ken's Market was official. After inventory, he opened the next day. He remained open until a fire on Aug. 14, 1974, at which time he retired and the building was torn down.
Ken operated the store for years, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. He was a strong believer in being closed on Sundays, and even wrote a letter to the editor about it. In later years, he did extend his hours to evenings and Sunday, but had a staffer usually cover the times.
This doesn't mean he didn't put a lot of extra hours in. He regularly was at the store on Sunday mornings to prepare his grocery orders, or do odds and ends.
For hundreds of Petaluma kids at the nearby Boy's Club, McNear School, and McNear Park, Ken's became the most important location in town. Ken's had an amazing selection of penny candy, reputed to be the largest in Sonoma County; his was the first store in Petaluma to serve Icee's; and Ken was able to relate to all his customers, young and old, with a level of personal service that today seems to have been lost forever.
And then there was Ken's telephone. It was an old black dial phone which sat on top of the meat counter. As a sign of the times, or more likely Ken's generosity, and before the days when everyone had a cell phone, Ken always let anyone use his phone (just so long as you asked first). He was a rare gentleman who ran a small grocery store in an appreciative community, a most unusual combination of people and places that you just won't find anymore. What the Eighth Street neighborhood would give to have Ken's Market back at the corner of Eighth and F!
Photos courtesy of Lola and Glenn Johnson. Original black & white photograph retouched and color enhanced by Kai Tiura.
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