Great grocer

HAYDEN - As Ron McIntire neared the very beginning of his now longtime career in the supermarket business, he was offered three options: Ritzville, Wash., Lewiston or Hayden.

Now it has been 40 years since McIntire selected Hayden, opening his first supermarket near the intersection of Hayden Avenue and Government Way and starting the ball rolling for the many other stores that followed.

Today, the 73-year-old McIntire, who also is the mayor of Hayden, owns 11 supermarkets and three convenience stores. He's looking to open more, he said.

"I was interested in only one when we moved up here" from Quincy, Wash., in 1970, McIntire said. "But then things just work out and you grow."

He kept opening new stores with encouragement from the grocery company he has long worked with, URM Stores Inc. The Spokane company has helped with finding locations for the stores he has opened over the years, he said.

Jean McLaughlin, business development manager for URM Stores, who has been working with McIntire since 1975, describes McIntire as sincere, generous and a man of his word.

"He continues to ask about my 96-year-old mother," she said.

The two have become good friends over the years.

"He hires very good people, and always makes sure they have the tools needed to do an outstanding job," McLaughlin said. "He generates a tremendous amount of loyalty" from his employees.

"He instills a feeling of confidence in his people," she said.

McIntire owns 10 supermarkets under the company Manito Super 1 Foods Inc., and his Hayden Avenue Super 1 Foods store is owned under Ron's Thrift Inc. He owns the three convenience stores under the company McIntire Enterprises LLC. The stores are in Idaho, Montana and Washington.

McIntire is bringing his son, Randy McIntire, along to eventually take over for him, but he's not planning to stop working any time soon.

He said, "I like to keep on top of everything."

Ron McIntire and his wife, Joanne, have seven children and 23 grandchildren. They have been married for 49 years.

Along with Randy, his children are Rhonda, Robin, Roberta, Ryan, Rebecca and Robert. Daughters Robin and Rhonda also are in the supermarket business. Robin operates the video stores. Rhonda is the pricing coordinator in the Post Falls store, McIntire said.

During the 40 years, he said, he has learned more patience and to be kind to employees.

"You can't just whip them into shape," he said. "It's like your own kids."

Working with a lot of people has always been one of the best parts of the occupation he has chosen, he said.

Also, "It's a great indoors job," McIntire said.

He said, "Every day is different. There's always something new. New products, new people, and new ways to do things."

He has been the mayor of the city of Hayden for nearly 11 years. Before that, he spent 18 years on the Coeur d'Alene School District board of trustees. When he's not working, he likes to spend his free time fishing. He makes an annual trip to Alaska to do just that, he said.

McIntire began his career in the grocery business in Quincy, in farm county in central Washington. He was hired on as an assistant manager at a store in 1955. He worked at that store until 1970, departing as the manager of Akins Thrift.

"When I was managing stores, I thought if I could do it for somebody, I'd like to probably do it for myself," McIntire said.

His parents moved to Quincy from Oregon in 1954, because of work. McIntire moved up to Quincy a year later.

He graduated from high school in 1954 in St. Helens, Ore. He was born in Bunkerville, Nev., which is located along Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah.

Immediately after high school, he tried his hand at being a professional cowboy.

"It was fun, I liked riding horses, but I realized you could never make a living out of it," McIntire said.

While at Akins Thrift in Quincy, McIntire asked URM Stores about opening a store of his own and the company began searching for possible locations.

Then came the choice: Hayden, Ritzville, or Lewiston.

"This one (Hayden) looked like the best program for me," he said.

The store, with its 6,700 square feet of floor space, was already two years old and called Farver's Market. McIntire bought the store from Al Farver, of Post Falls, he said.

Running his own store was a great challenge.

"It takes everything you know, plus a little bit more," McIntire said.

The work was hard, he said, but success followed quickly. Sales at his new store tripled immediately.

Today, Corey's Furniture, at 9520 N. Government Way, is located in the building where McIntire started.

McLaughlin, of URM Stores, said McIntire is among the top independent store operators in Idaho and Montana. He has six supermarkets in Montana and five in Idaho.

To get to that level, she said, he has had to put in many hours and couldn't be afraid to roll up his own sleeves everyday.

"It's not a nine to five business," she said. "You've got to work nights and weekends. He's in there Saturday mornings, bright and early."

What has made him successful, she said, has been the way he treats customers.

"If you've ever walked through the stores with him, he knows the names of his customers," she said. "He has a sense of who his customers are. He's very active in the community."

She said he's always looking for new store locations.

"But he only wants to locate in communities he would like to live in himself," she said.