REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION Family-friendly English-style pub coming soon to downtown Kennewick

By Laura Kostad for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business

A building at 201 W. Kennewick Ave. has shed its corner shoe store identity of nearly seven decades and is transforming into its newest incarnation: Blackthorne Neighbourhood Pub.

Once complete, the old David’s Shoes store will transport those who walk through its doors to the atmospheric ambience of an old English pub, complete with a European- and U.K.-centric beer and wine lineup customers won’t find anywhere else in TriCities, as well as a curated menu of craft cocktails accompanied by light fare.

Shane Dozhier and her partner, Neil Darwen, are the minds behind the new establishment, which they hope will provide people of all ages a place to gather, slow down, enjoy music and good company with great drinks and a European football match in the background.

Dozhier is currently the taproom manager at White Bluffs Brewing in Richland.

“It’s super cliché, but every bartender wants to have their own bar. It’s always been in the back of my mind – not a goalgoal, but if it happens, it happens,” she said.

She and Darwen had casually tossed the idea around that they should open a taproom, but the right property hadn’t presented itself.

Dozhier had the opportunity to tour the Kennewick Avenue building’s 3,500 square feet with the White Bluffs team.

When she told Darwen that White Bluffs had passed on it, he surprised her by saying, “Let’s do it.”

They are planning to invest $400,000 in improvements to convert the space.

JNM Construction is the general contractor, but Darwen is building some elements in their backyard, including the bar.

The decision to channel the English pub scene comes from Darwen’s roots.

He was born in northwestern England in a small village outside of Preston called Whittle-le-Woods. He came to Tri-Cities in 1999 on a work contract, which ran longer than originally intended. He ended up stay- ing.

He and Dozhier met in 2016 through a mutual friend.

Many Tri-Citians might not realize that a sizeable British community exists within the community. Dozhier explained that many of them were sent over to work at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and for other Hanford site contractors.

Many arrived in the late 1990s and early 2000s, living in the same apartment complexes. One popular spot was the apartments along Gage Boulevard in Richland, not far from Uncle Sam’s Saloon, which became a popular place to gather and catch European football matches.

To this day, she said many continue to coordinate meetups around football.

She and Darwen have traveled back to England together. Since signing the lease on the downtown Kennewick property, they have toured dozens of pubs for inspiration.

“They’re so old. We didn’t go to a single one that was new. All of them were at the very least 50 years old,” Dozhier said.

The downtown building’s 100-plus-yearold brick facade lends a great starting canvas to its new life.

Built in 1920, the building was once home to Neuman’s cash and carry grocery and department store, a business he took over from early Kennewick pioneers W.G. King and his son, Clarence King.

Neuman’s was in business until 1953, when David Rietman took over the building and opened David’s Shoes in the space. Brenda and Kent Hoover, David’s Shoes employees, bought the building and business in 1993 when Rietman sought retirement.

Brenda Hoover in turn sold the building in 2021 to Jamie and Loren Wikstrand, who operated it for a short time as David’s Shoes and also sold merchandise from their formerly online-only clothing shop, White Bluffs Boutique.

Barely a year later, the building was in new hands.

Though Dozhier and Darwen are still figuring out all the details, she said visitors uBLACKTHORNE, Page B3