These 2nd-generation Tri-Cities storekeepers are calling it quits after 25 years

For more than two decades, The Finley Shopper has offered the rural community a bit of everything from groceries and dog grooming to irrigation hardware.

At the heart of the store has been Rob and Kathy Richards. They are second-generation owners, after taking over the business from Kathy’s father.

But this week, they are handing the keys to a new owner after a two-year hunt to find someone who would care about their employees and Finley as much as they do.

“It’s been challenging, but we’ve met a lot of wonderful people over the years,” Rob said. “There is something to be said about the entrepreneurial part of it. Being your own boss and having flexible hours.”

They also credited a great employees and a close-knit community for keeping them in business for the past 25 years. Even when the phone could ring at all hours.

The couple bought the store after they each worked in retail. Kathy had worked in Safeway, and Rob worked for Coca-Cola.

While they weren’t able to compete with big box stores on price, they were able to offer convenience and customer service to a loyal base of people in rural community southeast of Kennewick.

They added a feed store to the shop in the 2000s, and brought in dog groomers.

Rob described the store as a miniature Ranch & Home, except people can pick up a head of lettuce or gallon of milk along with their animal feed or hardware.

One thing Ranch & Home doesn’t have is a giant chicken statue painted in Seahawks colors on its roof. The fiberglass “sea chicken” started its life in San Diego when Kathy’s uncle found it.

A few years ago, a milk delivery driver offered to paint it in Seahawks colors.

Tight-knit community

They are on the third generation of customers coming through the store, Kathy said. Every child gets a sucker when they come in, and now there are grandparents who remember getting the candy when they were a kid.

“They come in after disappearing for 15 years, and (say,) ‘You don’t remember me?’ and I’m just, ‘Kind of, but you’re about 13 inches taller and another 100 pounds,’” Rob said.

They raised two of their three children while running the store. The shop sits across the street from Finley Middle School, and they would often find out about any issues the children had from teachers coming in to the shop.

It was only one sign of the tight-knit community. They were proud of being able to donate to the school, the church and various charity efforts. Whenever a tragedy struck the area, they would put a change jar on the counter.

“No one has ever left this store, if they were hungry,” Kathy said. “That’s just part of being in a small community.”

This family atmosphere has extended to their employees, some of whom have been at the store for more than a decade. They have always made sure that employees could get to their children’s events and were taken care of.

Finding a new owner

The couple wanted to make sure that they found a new owner that understood the store’s place in the unincorporated community. They found that in the owner of the Kennewick Pik-a-Pop.

“The community deserves someone that’s going to put some more energy (into the store,)“ Kathy said. “We recognize we’re just getting to the point that the business, the community deserves, some updating.”

They said the soon-to-be owner would be doing some work on the store, which should be exciting for the customers.

The store will be closed on Wednesday, Dec. 15, as they inventory everything before handing over the keys.

As for the couple, they plan to take a break and play golf, canoe and paddleboard.

“You only got so many years of physically being able to do that when you get to be my age. You’ve got to take advantage of it,” Rob said.

While they will get to have fun, they expect that they’ll miss the people they’ve spent years around.

“My mom and dad still miss it, and they were only here nine years,” Kathy said. “They run into people downtown all the time, who say, ‘The Shopper Lady.’”

This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.