People came near and far around the Tacoma area for a taste of Fisher scones. Some drove over an hour while others were in walking distance. Nevertheless, many came to Bayview Thriftway in Olympia to get in on a delicious halibut sale and to get their hands on some scones.
But why Thriftway, why Olympia and why halibut?
Carly Brettmann, marketing manager for Stormans Inc., knew of Fisher’s Scones popularity and wanted to bring the scones down to the Olympia area. Many people love the scone, but most only have access to it around the Puyallup area for the annual Washington State Fair or wherever the scone truck can make it. Brettmann decided to reach out to Fisher Scones to bring the beloved fair food to Olympia and invited the scone wagon to Bayview Thriftway, a grocery store that prides itself on staying local.
Founder Ralph Stormans worked at Safeway as a young man and decided he wanted to open his own grocery store. Storman’s tenacity proved fruitful and in 1944 he opened Ralph’s Food Center, right across the street from his old employer, Safeway.
The Stormans company continued to expand throughout the years into a plethora of different businesses ranging from multiple format grocery stores to party rentals. The Bayview Thriftway location today offers a full range kitchen on their mezzanine for cooking classes with views of Budd Inlet.
As the lines gathered for halibut and scones, the event brought together the community as food does. Many waited patiently for both their scones and their fish with a smile on their face. Business owners in the area came by to bring back scones for their coworkers while others came to bring home fish for their Memorial Day celebration.
Ralph’s and Bayview pride themselves on carrying as many local foods and products on their shelves from nearby farms and vendors of Washington State. With Fisher Scones being a staple in the Washington State Fair it came to be a natural fit for a local store event.
The scone truck prepared over 4,500 scones at the end of the day.
Fisher Scones debut at the first Puyallup fair (now called Washington State Fair) in 1915 and has been a part of the fairgrounds since then. The scone came to be to bring awareness to the Fisher flour mill that opened in 1911 by Oliver David Fisher who had moved to Seattle, Washington from Orleans, Missouri in 1906.