Family Business Awards 2013: Large Firms

WINNER: Uwajimaya

Seattle/Bellevue/Renton | 302 employees | uwajimaya.com

Uwajimaya, one of the big draws in Seattles Chinatown-International District, is part of the fabric of Seattle a destination store that attracts tourists and local residents alike with its distinctive selection of Asian food items, seafood, produce and gifts. Its origins are humble: Fujimatsu Moriguchi began in 1928 by selling homemade fishcakes from the back of his truck to Japanese laborers in the regions logging, fishing and railroad camps. His wife, Sadako, operated a small store in downtown Tacoma. But they lost it all when Japanese Americans were ordered to internment camps during World War II.

Settling in Seattle after the war, the Moriguchis resumed retailing and fishcake manufacturing in what was then called Japantown. Now, the 66,000-square-foot store in the Chinatown-International District is the anchor of Uwajimaya Village, a shopping and apartment complex, and the foundation of a $110 million-a-year business. Branches operate in Bellevue, Renton and Beaverton, Oregon, and the store has broadened its focus to imports from other nations while always retaining that touch of the exotic. Basically, if its Asian, we try to carry it, says Marketing Director Denise Moriguchi, a third-generation family member and one of about 50 Moriguchis who hold stock in the business. Management still attempts to reach decisions via family input, though as the clan expands, Denise Moriguchi says it sometimes requires an online poll to reach consensus.

SILVER: Ostrom Mushroom Farms

Lacey | 300 employees | ostrommushrooms.com

The Ostrom Company started in 1928 as a small canning business in the Lake City district of Seattle. Today, with farms in Lacey and Everson, Ostrom Mushroom Farms grows 17 million pounds of mushrooms annually and generates $23 million in sales. Since 1964, Ostroms has been owned by the Street family. Two other families, the Knudsens and Lindleys, joined as partners in 1976. The firm markets its white-button and brown mushroom varieties primarily in the Pacific Northwest states, where they are shipped in refrigerated trucks that have air-ride suspensions to help keep bruising to a minimum.

SILVER: Village Concepts

Federal Way | 356 employees | villageconcepts.com

Village Concepts, a FAST-EXPANDING 15-facility chain of senior-living communities, is managed by three generations of the Brown family: founder Bill, still an active participant in the business at age 90; sons and board members Steve and Rick; and grandson Stuart, the COO. The assisted living facilities aim to provide a level of independence not found in a traditional nursing home, says Corporate Development Director Tracy Willis. And it is a family business in more than one sense: Our customers are our family, she says. Were dealing with not just residents but with sons, daughters, offspring. And I think they like that we are grandsons and grandparents ourselves. We make sure they understand were sympathetic even our ownership is going through the same thing.