Retail
Big Lots Closing 140 Stores including at least 8 in Oregon
Big Lots retail chain has announced that they are closing 140 stores in 2024. They have 1400 stores and 14 of them operate in Oregon. I clicked each location on BigLots.com and the following show they are closing. Albany, Beaverton, Eugene, Grants Pass, Gresham, North Bend, Portland, and Salem all…
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Ashland Chamber launches new eCommerce site for all Brick and Mortar stores in Ashland
Like the rest of us, the Ashland Chamber of Commerce has been hard at work pivoting to stay alive while continuing to reach out and help Ashland’s small business economy in every way it can, since the shutdowns started in March. Thanks to a Grant from Business Oregon, and a…
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Governor Kate Brown Announces Launch of ‘Give the Gift of Oregon’ Campaign to Support Local Businesses
Oregon retailers are prepared for Oregonians to shop safe, shop local Salem, OR—Governor Kate Brown today announced the launch of the “Give the Gift of Oregon” campaign as part of a comprehensive effort to support local businesses statewide. Shopping local is more important than ever due to the significant economic…
Read MoreAshland Chamber of Commerce COVID-19 Updates
Greetings from the Ashland Chamber and Travel Ashland, Information about COVID-19 and resources has been moving rapidly. Here is today’s latest update: Today, Jackson and Josephine Counties have been named in the eligible disaster areas for SBA Disaster Loan Assistance. Though the Governor has yet to designate Oregon an official disaster area, our counties have…
Read MoreBudget-Friendly Inventory Management Tools for Small Business
By Marcus Lansky at https://abilitator.biz/ Whether you’re running a retail store, a manufacturing facility, or a warehouse, inventory management is likely a constant challenge for your business. That’s especially true if you’re a small business in the early stages of growth. However, even small businesses on tight budgets have options…
Read MoreArrggghhh! The stores in my town close too early!
By Becky McCray and Deb Brown. https://saveyour.town/ I got a great email from Dane in response to my last newsletter. He said: Thanks for suggesting that businesses stay open an extra hour.You might also tell them to not be closed two or even three days a week. A lot of businesses…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences: How Amazon is disrupting Telephone Poles
By Mark Schaefer This week the New York Times did a long, investigative report on how Amazon has weaved its way into nearly every aspect of life in the city of Baltimore — government, education, politics, economics, and employment, to name a few. The city is mostly positive about its…
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Unwrapping Holiday Hiring
by Anna Johnson Retailers and package delivery companies rely on the holiday season to provide an end-of-year boost in sales that makes operating during the rest of the year worthwhile. Some businesses hire extra workers, often on a temporary basis, to get them through this busy time of year. In…
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$75-million 5th Street Public Market expansion project in Eugene on track to open fall 2020.
By Jim Teece We are getting quite a few requests about the photo on the cover of the November 2019 issue. We received the photo as part of a press release package from the Obie Companies talking about retail on 5th street marketplace and we thought it was very appropriate…
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Holiday Cheer Abounds at 5th Street Public Market
By Jenny Ulum, Public Affairs Counsel, Obie Companies – www.obiecompanies.com The best place to find a little piece of the North Pole in Eugene is the historic 5th Street Public Market in the downtown Market District. Year-round the 5th Street Public Market is one of the area’s top tourist attractions,…
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Are we in the middle of a retail apocalypse?
By Jim Teece Retailers have closed a record 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then smashed that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet, according to estimates by the commercial real-estate firm CoStar Group. Then they started 2019 by announcing more than 8,600 store…
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Retail Salespersons: Oregon’s Largest Occupation
By Jessica Nelson from the Oregon Employment Department Oregon had almost 66,000 retail salespersons in 2017 – making retail sales the largest single occupation in the state. One out of every 31 jobs in Oregon is in retail sales. Those tens of thousands of jobs are grouped together based on…
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