J. K. Gill Company

This article is about the enterprise. For its originator and eponym, see Joseph K. Gill.

J. K. Gill

File:J. K. Gill Building in 2015 - Portland, Oregon.jpg The J. K. Gill Company Building as seen in 2015
Formerly	Gill and Steel, Gill and Yeaton
Company type	Private
Industry	Publishing, Office supplies, books and school materials
Founded	1867
Founder	Joseph K. Gill
Defunct	1999
Headquarters	Portland, Oregon , United States
Number of employees	500 (1980)

The J.K. Gill Company, often referred to simply as J.K. Gill or Gill's, was a firm specializing in office supplies, books, and educational materials headquartered in Portland, Oregon, USA. The company operated for approximately 130 years. Primarily serving the Pacific Northwest region of Oregon and Washington, it reached its zenith with over 500 employees and retail locations spanning four western states, including California and Arizona.

History

In 1866, while teaching at Willamette University under the guidance of Thomas Milton Gatch, recent alumnus Joseph K. Gill acquired a school supply business in Salem, Oregon, launching a modest bookstore there in 1867. By 1868, Gill partnered with C.F. Yeaton to erect a larger store in Salem, but in 1870 he sold his interest to Yeaton and relocated to Portland. There he joined forces with George A. Steel, acquiring the Harris and Holeman stationery outlet located at Front and Washington Streets ( ). In February 1872, they took over W. T. Shanahan's music shop and moved operations to the Holmes Building on 1st Street (currently 417 SW First Ave.). This relocation was deliberate to place the business near the Ladd and Tilton Bank at First and Stark. Expanding beyond books, stationery, and office supplies, they began offering pianos and organs as well. After Steel exited in May 1873 taking over the music division, the company was renamed J.K. Gill and Company. For a brief period, wholesale and retail functions were separated: retail continued at First and Oak under W.B. Ayer and Co., while a wholesale warehouse was established near the Skidmore Fountain. In 1888, these branches were consolidated again as J.K. Gill, moving in 1893 to the former Masonic Lodge at Third and Alder.

File:J. K. Gill Advertisement.jpg

A newspaper ad from 1914 highlighting the J.K. Gill Co.'s store established in 1893

In 1922, construction commenced on a new corporate headquarters at Fifth and Stark streets under architects Sutton & Whitney. The eight-story building was projected to cost $300,000 for construction alone; with land acquisition and interior furnishings factored in, total expenses reached approximately $600,000. At that time, J.K. Gill was recognized as the largest book distributor in the Pacific Northwest region and ranked as the most substantial business of its kind within cities comparable in size to Portland.

From at least the late nineteenth century onward, publishing activities including books, lithographs, and maps were integrated into their operations. Notably, Gill's Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon served as an essential resource for trappers and traders engaging with the Chinook people.

Following Joseph K. Gill’s passing in 1931, the enterprise continued expanding steadily. During the 1960s a transition began away from downtown locations toward shopping malls; by the year 1990 most outlets operated within mall environments.

Ownership stayed within the Gill family until a sale occurred in 1970 when Young & Rubicam acquired the firm. At that point there were eleven stores operating across Oregon and Washington generating annual revenues of $13.8 million. Young & Rubicam expanded rapidly; by 1979 store count had increased to thirty-six across three states with sales surpassing $40 million (equivalent to $Template:Inflation million in current dollars). In September of that year J.K. Gill became a subsidiary of Bro-Dart Industries. At acquisition time employment stood near five hundred with thirty-six stores distributed as twenty-seven in Oregon and Washington combined plus nine locations in California. By early ’84 two additional outlets had opened in Arizona; store numbers included thirteen in Oregon and fifteen in Washington alongside an unspecified count within California.

The company’s flagship location covering approximately 8,000 square feet (740 m²) situated downtown Portland at Fifth and Stark within the J. K. Gill Company Building shuttered its doors in 1991. (Multnomah County had leased part of this building since 1978 before purchasing it outright in ’88 for use by county health department offices.) This structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in February of 2021.

During the decade of the nineties increasing rivalry from large national retailers led to J.K. Gill’s eventual closure; its final outlets ceased operations by the end of 1999.

See also

• Stationery

External links

File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Biography of Joseph Gill in History of Portland, Oregon by H.W. Scott (D. Mason and Co., 1890)