Published July 2003

JD’s relocates,
adds soda shop

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

For those craving a thick vanilla shake, a stick-to-your-ribs meatloaf sandwich or a piece of homemade pie, JD’s Soda Fountain/Sandwich Shop has opened in Granite Falls.

Snohomish County Business Journal/KIMBERLY HILDEN Janice and Dave Wegman decided to turn extra space leased for JD’s Mercantile into a 1950s-style soda fountain and sandwich shop. Located at 402 S. Granite Ave., the new eatery adjoining the mercantile serves up sandwiches, soups, salads and a variety of sweet treats.

Next door to the newly relocated JD’s Mercantile, the establishment resembles a 1950s-era soda fountain, complete with a black-and-white checked floor and a counter lined with shiny red stools.

“There is nothing else like this in town,” said Dave Wegman, who, with his wife, Janice, decided to open a soda shop when they moved their mercantile from 501 W. Stanley to its current location at 402. S. Granite Ave.

While the couple had grown out of the 1,300-square-foot space dedicated to selling new and used goods, the 6,000 square feet they ended up leasing was too much for just their mercantile, they said.

Formerly Konnerups Market, the space had been vacant for a couple of years before Dave Wegman, a former construction superintendent, began making interior improvements in early April. By late May, the soda fountain opened, complete with an area set aside for parties and a mural of a train hauling lumber through the Northwest countryside painted on the north wall.

“This is a bright spot for this end of town, a place where families can come, sit and enjoy (themselves),” Janice Wegman said.

Behind the fountain’s ’50s-style counter is where the Wegmans’ daughter, Shelly Carpenter, creates homemade soups, sandwiches, cookies, pies and ice-cream treats.

Items on the menu are Carpenter originals, Janice Wegman said, and include sandwiches, soups, salads and sweet treats, from shakes, cones and sundaes to cookies, pies and made-to-order ice-cream cakes.

The soda fountain joins a growing list of eateries in the town known as the “Gateway to the Mountain Loop Highway,” including more recent additions such as Bodacious BBQ and Subway.

“Granite Falls is a growing town with a need for more good businesses, local businesses,” Janice Wegman said, adding that the community has been very supportive of the new soda fountain.

“They walk in and go, ‘Oh, this is just what we needed,” she said.

The fountain is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, though operating hours may expand during the summer. For more information, call 360-691-2074.

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