Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....McIntyre, Ross 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 21, 2011, 4:33 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 750 - 751
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     ROSS McINTYRE holds a place in the front rank of those whose efforts have 
been directed to the development of business along lines that promote not only 
individual success, but also the welfare and prosperity of the people 
generally. As president of the International Sales and Produce Company, of 
Portland, he is the executive head of one of the largest chain store systems 
on the coast and is widely known for his progressive and thoroughly modern 
methods. Mr. McIntyre was born in Michigan, where he was reared and educated. 
He graduated from the State Normal School at Mt. Clemens in 1900, after which 
he taught in the public schools of Michigan for three years. He then entered 
mercantile circles as an employee of the J. W. Templeton Company, being sent 
to Forester, Michigan, to take charge of a trading post and store. Be bought 
and shipped potatoes, hay and other products, which he exchanged for cargoes 
of lumber from northern Michigan. He made little or no use of banks, using 
currency when needed and trading essential commodities, like butter and eggs. 
He had had no experience in this phase of merchandising before, but proved a 
capable business man and was continued at that post for two years, when he was 
transferred to the main office of the firm. The business soon afterward 
changed hands and Mr. McIntyre continued with the new firm, having charge of 
the grocery department until 1911, when he came to Portland, Oregon, and 
established the Walnut Park grocery, which he conducted for three years and 
which is now one of the many stores under his control. In 1914 Mr. McIntyre 
and Fred Dose organized the International Sales Company, the purpose of which 
was to do an importing and exporting business with Central and South America, 
with the idea of handling Oregon products as far as possible. However, the 
World war interrupted their plans, the German cruiser "Emden" capturing 
several of their cargoes, so that they were compelled to confine their 
operations to this country. Their first effort was to lease a market at Second 
and Yamhill streets, which they named the Yamhill Public Market. They 
continued in the produce business and have always been heavy buyers and 
shippers of potatoes, onions and other produce. They began the establishment 
of a line of stores, under the name of the Twentieth Century stores, and now 
have one hundred and five stores and markets in Oregon, Washington and 
California, with large warehouses in Portland, Medford and Klamath Falls. Mr. 
Dose retired from the business in 1924 and the present officers of the 
International Sales and Produce Company are, Ross McIntyre, president; Joseph 
W. Joseph, secretary; and George Alexander, treasurer. The company employs 
three hundred and fifty people and commands a steady growth in volume of 
business, due to the high quality of its goods, its remarkably low prices and 
the uniform courtesy which characterizes the conduct of every store.
Mr. McIntyre is president of the National Chain Stores Association of America, 
embracing the United States and Canada, representing stores which do an annual 
volume of business amounting to one and a half billion dollars. He has been 
particularly interested in the development of Oregon's farm lands and is a 
heavy buyer of the farm products of Oregon and Washington, buying his goods 
here whenever possible. He sells thirty thousand dollars worth of Oregon 
walnuts every year and uses Oregon canned vegetables to the extent of ten 
thousand cases a year, as well as three thousand cases of Oregon string beans. 
He has found a uniformity of pack in Oregon vegetables that is unexcelled any 
where, possessing a flavor and color that meets with the approval of the 
buying public. Mr. McIntyre has spent much time and money in investigating 
vegetables that can be profitably grown here, particularly lettuce, and he has 
been a strong booster for the walnut growers. As a result of the firm's 
activities along these lines Oregon's products and packs are increasing and 
improving every year, the growing of crops especially adapted for canning, as 
distinct from ordinary market crops, being one of the things Mr. McIntyre has 
striven for.

     In Michigan, Mr. McIntyre was united in marriage to Miss Jane Lewis, who 
is a native of that state, and they are the parents of a daughter, Eileen, who 
was born in Portland. Mr. McIntyre is a member of Portland Lodge, No. 55, A. 
F. & A. M.; Oregon Consistory, A. A. S. R.; and Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. 
M. S. He also belongs to the Portland Golf Club, the Columbia Country Club, 
the Multnomah Athletic Club, the Multnomah Golf Club, the City Club, the Press 
Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the East Side Commercial Club. Though a busy 
man in his individual affairs, he neglects no opportunity to aid, through his 
efforts and influence, the welfare of his community and has long been 
recognized as a man of distinctive ability and public spirit, commanding the 
sincere respect of all who know him.

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