The old painted sign is on the south side of the equally old single story brick building which once housed the establishment. The building itself appears to be an apartment building today. In the middle of the town, Mead probably grew up around the store.
This may have been the only general store in town as it stocked a wide and eclectic array of merchandise, including groceries, feed, produce, hardware, auto supplies, dry goods and clothing.
Noted more for his talents as a designer and builder of fine Craftsman style homes, the owner, Clayton E. Feltis, also dabbled in real estate and other endeavours.
Clayton E. Feltis
According to his February 22, 1953 obituary printed in the Seattle Times, Clayton E. Feltis was born in 1884 in Caldwell County, Missouri and “moved to Spokane in 1906” where he was “active there for 20 years in the real estate and construction business.” A listing for him first appeared in a 1909 Spokane City Directory, which described his occupation as a “solicitor,” an early word that sometimes meant “sales agent.” From 1910 to 1918, Feltis was listed in the directories as a real estate agent for the Thompson Gillis
Real Estate Investment Company, and
from 1919-1921, he owned the Feltis Mercantile Company, which was located at 607 North Market Street.
He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Mead, Washington. In 1926 Feltis and his family moved to Seattle where he built the Carol Apartments and the Roberta
Apartments (1115 and 1119 E. 43rd), named after his two daughters. In addition to his work as a general contractor, Feltis opened a grocery-and-feed business in Lake City in 1935 and operated it for seven years. He retired in 1947. Feltis and his wife, Grace
Feltis, raised two sons, Hugh and John Feltis, and two daughters, Carol Feltis Krachunis and Roberta Feltis Kinison.
From Historic Spokane