Down Home Foods

Overview

Down Home Foods became one of those Fort Bragg businesses that felt less like a store and more like part of everyday town life.

Stanley Miklose opened the business in 1974, beginning a run that lasted nearly five decades and made Down Home Foods a familiar stop for generations of local shoppers.

Location & History

Down Home Foods is at 115 S. Franklin Street in downtown Fort Bragg, in a practical commercial area long used by shops, offices, and service businesses.

Community memory places the first Down Home Foods in the nearby row of shops by the laundromat. As the business grew, more refrigeration was needed, and one recollection remembers an old truck refrigerator box being placed on blocks behind the store to provide additional cooler space.

The business later moved into 115 S. Franklin Street.

Before Down Home Foods occupied the building, several residents remember it as the DMV. One recalled receiving a first California driver's license there around 1972.

Others remember the Employment Office or unemployment office operating from the same building.

Another recollection identifies Mel's Decorator Den, remembered as selling paint, wallpaper, and decorating supplies, as another possible chapter at the address.

That earlier history remains an open part of the story.

Memories of nearby businesses sometimes overlap with this address. Paul and Joan Katzeff's Thanksgiving Restaurant was recalled by one resident as being here, while another placed it in the nearby strip beside the laundromat.

Once established at 115 S. Franklin Street, Down Home Foods developed a strong local identity as a natural-foods store offering products that were not always easy to find elsewhere in Fort Bragg.

Stanley Miklose remained closely associated with the business for decades. His death in 2023 marked the end of a major chapter in the Down Home Foods story.

Community Memories

Residents remember homemade tofu, raw milk deliveries, dehydrated whole bananas, specialty foods, and a store cat that liked to lounge on the shelves.

One community recollection also says the name “Down Home” may have a connection to local baseball. Until that story is documented more fully, the origin of the name remains an open part of the story.

Timeline

Around 1972 — Community memory places the DMV at 115 S. Franklin Street.

Earlier Years — The building is also remembered as an Employment Office and possibly Mel's Decorator Den.

1974 — Stanley Miklose opens Down Home Foods.

Early Years — The business is remembered in the nearby row of shops by the laundromat.

Later — Down Home Foods moves into 115 S. Franklin Street as the business grows.

Following Decades — The store becomes a longtime Fort Bragg natural-foods business with a strong local following.

2023 — Stanley Miklose dies, marking the end of a major chapter in the Down Home Foods story.