Over the years, Pay 'n Save was the leading drugstore chain in Washington and was the owner of several Washington-based retailers, including Lamonts and Ernst.

A 1984 sale of the company to the Trump Group and a 1986 attempt to transform the retailer into a bargain-basement merchandiser resulted in a loss of nearly $50 million.

[1] At the company's peak, Pay 'n Save was operating 313 stores in ten western states, Canada and Great Britain under several different names, including Pay 'n Save, Ernst, Bi-Mart, Lamonts, Sportswest, Schuck's Auto Supply, Yard Birds, Von Tobel's, and Price Savers.

[3] In March 1959, M. Lamont Bean became the president of Pay 'n Save and began considering operating other stores that were not pharmacies.

[3] In 1983, Pay 'n Save entered the wholesale club business and opened the first Price Savers Warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah.

[2] Pay 'n Save's largest shareholders, Stuart Sloan and Samuel N. Stroum, vowed to fight the sale of the retail company.

[2] Sloan and Stroum, who owned 18 percent of Pay 'n Save's stock, issued a statement telling shareholders not to "be stampeded into acting hastily".

[2] On September 12, 1984, The Trump Group announced that it had withdrawn its offer to purchase Pay 'n Save in order to negotiate with Sloan and Stroum.

[13] On November 1, 1985, Pay 'n Save successfully spun off Bi-Mart, Lamonts, and Schuck's to form a new company, Northern Pacific Corporation.

[17] The company also announced its new emphasis on bargain goods and plans to raise $225 million by selling convertible bonds and 10-year notes.

[20] Mike Reynolds, senior reporter for New York industry publication Chain Drug Review, blamed the company's decline on Zimmerman's approach displaying tables of low-cost imported items.

[23] The chain planned to revert their 106 drug stores back to the familiar blue-and-green color scheme, complete with new signs, and better lighting.

[26] Richard Dortch, who began working with Pay 'n Save as a store clerk in 1969, was elected president of the 124-drugstore chain in January 1991.

[30] Leonard Green & Partners, a Los Angeles investment firm that specializes in management buyouts agreed to acquire Thrifty Corporation's other division, including Pay 'n Save's Bi-Mart.

While originally selling war surplus, Yard Birds became more of a discount store with many departments, including hardware, toys, shoes and clothing, automotive, pets, sporting goods, furniture, a full-service grocery, and more.

[6] The Chehalis store was more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) and was considered, by the early owners, the largest surplus outfit on the West Coast.

[42] The Chehalis store was converted to a vendor mall and storage space under the Yard Birds name, before closing permanently in 2022.