While this first branch store may have been in the works before Quon Mane died, its opening appears to have been a significant management innovation undertaken by Frank and Albert after their uncle died in 1929. In the 1940s, relative Raymond Tong/Quon served as manager.
Eventually the store became the property of Quon Mane's younger son King who, with a wife and five children to support, also ran the King Quon cafe and a shop selling items made from bamboo.
In upscale La Jolla, King developed a devoted clientele that included the likes of Francoise Salk, once Picasso's mistress, and navy personnel who had acquired a taste for Asian things while serving in the region.
An aesthete and skilled woodworker, King could invisibly repair his clients' antiques, had a knack for developing new products, and personally crafted a Japanese tatami tearoom in the cottage behind his store, as well as extensive cabinetry in his own house. (Note that he was only able to buy his house situated in a desirable part of La Jolla after the Fair Housing Act came into effect in 1968.)
Coronado Store, c.1940 onwards
1206 Orange Avenue, Coronado Tel: Henley 3-5451
The only directory listing found so far is for 1941, with Mrs. Ysabel Bidal serving as manager.
North Park Store, c.1950-c.1963
2890 University Ave, San Diego, CA 9210
Del Mar Store?
It's believed there was a Del Mar store at some point.
Copycat Stores:
Jade Tree
397 South Coast Boulevard, Laguna Beach
It's not known when this store first opened, but the earliest city directory listing found so far is for 1940, and shows Frank in charge. It's believed Frank turned it over to Nathan to run when he returned to China c. 1946. Family hearsay says that Albert bankrolled this store for his brothers.
Love that tagline "Chinese Importations of Quality"!
Jade Tree, c.1954-c.1964
200 South Lake Avenue, Pasadena Tel SYcamore 3-1022
When Frank moved back to the US in the early 1950s with his son Donald, he opened this store.
Mane On Art Goods Co., late '40s onwards
550 Grant Avenue, San Francisco
This store was opened by Raymond Tong, a grandson of #3 Brother Quon Tong (his first son's adopted second son). He came to the US as the paper son of a man surnamed Tong (no relation to the "Tong" in Quon Tong's name, which refers to a completely different Chinese character).
Born in 1911, Raymond came to San Diego in 1928 and worked in the Quon Mane stores for a number of years. After World War II and service in the US army, he opened his store, Mane On, which was modeled on the Quon Mane stores (and seemingly named after them) in San Francisco.
In addition to running his store, he also worked in a law office helping members of the Chinese community with their immigration issues, which he would have known well as paper son. He participated in the US government's Chinese Confession Program and gained citizenship in the 1960s.
Raymond grew up with Frank's eldest daughter Jennie and considered her a big sister. They would both marry people surnamed 謝 (albeit romanized differently: Guey Kei/Kay Dea and Thomas Dare). This was also the surname of Frank, Albert and Nathan's mother (romanized as Jair or Dair), and we guess that it's likely they were somehow related and part of a clan allied to the Quon clan.
Related Wholesale Business:
Quon-Quon, 1937 onwards
1823 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, with offices eventually in San Francisco, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila &Tokyo
Grocery businesses started by two other Quon Mane "graduates":
Fred Quon & Co. and Kim Wah Hing & Co.
Brawley, CA
Born c. 1893, Fred was admitted to the US in 1909. He completed high school in San Diego, and worked in the Quon Mane store. In 1912 he became one of small number of partners who was not a son of Quon Mane or one of Quon Mane's brothers (he was the son of a first cousin).
He went on to make a fortune in the grocery business. In 1918, he started Fred Quon & Co. in Imperial, CA. In 1922, he opened a Fred Quon & Co. in Los Angeles. And in about 1925, he invested in Kim Wah Hing & Co., a pre-existing grocery business at 150 South Sixth Street in Brawley.
In the 1930s and 1940s, he was considered one of the most financially successful of the Quons. Then a run-in with the IRS over tax evasion caused his downfall and he lost everything
James Quon & Co.
213 Main Street, El Centro
Although James was the same age as Fred (b. 1893) and arrived in the US two years earlier in 1907, it's believed he only started his own grocery business three years after Fred in 1921. Perhaps he was helped or inspired by Fred in choosing the grocery business and in also locating nearby in the Imperial Valley.
James entered the US as the son of #5 Brother Quon Leon, although he was in fact the son of #2 Brother Quon Hong. That #2 Brother spent the least amount of time in the US among the five brothers, and is known to have lived in Foshan (near Canton) and also in Hong Kong, making at least a part of his allegedly comfortable living by servicing his US brothers as a trade and banking agent.
The last thing known about James is that he was supposedly going to leave the US and set up a paint business in Hong Kong.