 Its stores are located in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon.In 1934, 20-year-old J. Merton Rosauer (1914–1990) purchased a small grocery store in Spokane, Washington, after obtaining a $1,000 loan from his parents.His father, Joseph P. Rosauer (1888–1961), owned two grocery stores in Spokane on East Sprague and in Parkwater, where Merton and younger brother Roswell worked.