New Owners Keep Mineral Market Tradition Going Strong

When Dick and Leslee Dunlap decided to sell the Mineral Market this summer, they were hoping to keep the local institution in the care of owners who would understand its role in the small town and be familiar with the community they served.

“We always wanted to sell to somebody from within the community, someone who had a clear idea of what they were getting themselves into,” said Dick Dunlap. “It’s hard for me to explain to somebody from outside the community what this was all about.”

Perhaps one way of explaining Mineral is this: the Dunlaps recently received a visit from a family friend in her 90s, who hand-delivered a Christmas card that had been returned to sender when she tried to mail it through the Postal Service. The new postmaster, it seems, had been unsure what to do with a card simply addressed to “Dick and Leslee Dunlap — Mineral, WA.” Of course, the Dunlaps’ friend hadn’t needed to write down their house number or street in ages; everyone in town knows where they live.

In a town where everybody knows everybody, the Mineral Market serves as a de facto gathering place. A group of old-timers meets there for coffee every morning, and photos on the wall show off the biggest fish locals have hauled out of Mineral Lake. The store not only allows folks to buy groceries without making the half hour round-trip drive to Morton, it gives them a place to bump into each other and swap stories, to check the community board and see what’s going on.

When Danny and Chantell Suter saw the Dunlaps were looking to sell, Danny told his wife of a longtime dream he’d never shared.

“I always had in the back of my head that I would like to take (the Market) over,” he said. “It’s because of the community connection with it, with what it does mean.”

Danny, a third-generation Mineral resident, had moved back to town after meeting Chantell in the Tacoma area. The couple has three kids. Once Chantell heard of Danny’s ambition, it was easy for her to get on board as well. 

“I love that there’s so much history with the store,” she said. “Having some of the people who do come and gather here, and their stories of what the store used to be like and what Mineral used to be — we want to continue that. … That’s what Dick and Leslee saw in us, is we wanted to keep those stories of what the town used to be.”

Dick Dunlap is sort of Mineral’s unofficial historian, and his family goes back in Mineral almost as long as the town has existed. The Suters, though, have been in town even longer.

“The Suters were here when the Dunlap family rolled into town in 1914,” Dick said. “The families have had a pretty close relationship all that time.”

Dick Suter, Danny’s second cousin, is one of the regulars who meets for coffee at the market each morning. 

“We sit outside on a bench on the porch,” Dick Suter told The Chronicle in July, when the Dunlaps first announced they were looking to sell the business. “It’s a good thing to have, and we enjoy lying to each other.”

Now that Danny and Chantell have taken over, the gatherings will go on.

“We sold it to locals so we wouldn’t have to have no store during the winter,” said Leslee. “That’s hard on the community. It just sort of shuts everything down.”

Given how far back they all go in Mineral, the Dunlaps almost feel like they’ve kept the store in the family. The Suters do want to bring some new ideas to the establishment, while preserving the character that’s made it such a well-loved part of the community. There’s now a suggestion board inside, and Chantell said she’s thinking about brightening up the exterior paint job. 

“Don’t make it look like a taco stand,” joked Dick Dunlap. 

Leslee said she was already pleased with the store’s new ownership.

“I’m very happy that it’s moving along faster than we ever did it,” she said. “They have a lot of energy. They’re the same age as we were when we started the place.”

Danny and Chantell are still getting into the swing of running the store. They have an employee, and Danny’s father is learning to run the counter, but it’s still a time-consuming affair — especially since Danny still works full-time as a heavy equipment operator.

While the Suters have their work cut out for them, the Dunlaps are enjoying some well-earned time off. Leslee wants to spend more time on her hobby of researching genealogy, and Dick is excited to travel. For now, they’re still adjusting to having free time.

“I can’t quite figure out what to do with it yet,” Dick said. 

For the market, at least, the switch has been seamless, which has affirmed to the Dunlaps that they made the right decision in its new owners.

“This was so easy,” Dick said. “It was just such an easy transition. At this point in my life, I’m really into easy.”