T H E M O N T H LY B U S I N E S S S E C T I O N F O R L I N N A N D B E N T O N C O U N T I E S A N D T H E M I D - W I L L A M E T T E VA L L E Y
www.democratherald.com/business • www.gazettetimes.com/business
October 2013
O U T LO O K : R E TA I L
Merchants launch holiday campaigns Retailers optimistic as key shopping season looms By REBECCA BARRETT
ill a shorter-than-usual shopping season and the drag of a slow economic recovery affect retailers’ all-important holiday sales? Or will predictions of a modest increase in holiday sales ring true this year? Mid-valley merchants are approaching the busiest time of year with a sense of optimism and excitement. And many are preparing to get a jump on the traditional start of the blitz — Black Friday — with promotions and events to attract shoppers early. Betsy Penson, general manager of Heritage Mall in Albany, predicts stores there will out-perform last year’s sales. “It’s going to be a very different year because we have so much going on that wasn’t last year,” Penson said. Those changes include filling the long-vacant 13,000 square feet of space near the Target entrance as Old Navy moves inside the mall, along with several other new smaller merchants and food vendors. “We’re now going to have a bright, beautiful new energized store,” Penson said. “We want to be a cool, hip, happening place.” In addition to moving up the arrival of Santa at the mall by one week to Nov. 23, Penson said the mall will be installing three giant televisions in the food court in time for shoppers to watch the annual Civil War football game between the Oregon State Beavers and the University of Oregon Ducks, which happens to fall on Black Friday this year. DAVID PATTON | MID-VALLEY INBUSINESS After a successful opening of stores at midnight after Owner Kat Mondale shows a table top air hockey game, one of the most popular at Go! Calendars & Games in the Heritage Mall in Albany. Thanksgiving last year, many mall merchants will again open early on Black Friday, Penson said. of retailers expected to launch their holiday campaigns Mondale said. before Halloween. Mondale said sales have been a little slow so far, but Getting a jump Kat Mondale,owner of Go! Calendars & Games,a holiday she expects the pace to pick up after Halloween. Many retailers ring up the bulk of their sales during store in the Heritage Mall for the past three years,opened the In Benton County, Downtown Corvallis Association the holiday shopping season. This year is a shorterstore in September with shelves full of calendars representExecutive Director Joan Wessell is meeting with store than-usual holiday season, with 26 days between ing more than 250 breeds of dogs and toys such as a table-top owners to encourage them to extend hours during the Thanksgiving and Christmas. So while most people are size air hockey game and a traditional favorite of cat owners, holiday season to accommodate evening shoppers. still getting ready for trick-or-treating, retailers are althe Weazel Ball,with its never-ceasing floppy tail. ready thinking holiday shopping. “We’ll just have to work as hard as we can to encourAccording to Experian Marketing Services, which “We see people standing outside in the mall watching age people to shop locally,” Wessell said. conducted a survey about holiday strategies, nearly half the Weazel Ball, and they have to come in and see it,” SEE RETAIL | A6
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Burst’s LOCATION: 353 S.W. Madison Ave., Corvallis PHONE NUMBER: 541-753-2864 WEBSITE: www.burstschocolates.com KEY LEADERS: Owner, Patrick Magee; store manager, Erin Rainey NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: Magee and Rainey are full-time; in addition, the business has five part-time workers. WHAT IT DOES: Burst’s makes candies — and has now for 75 years. WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: Burst’s, a longtime fixture in Corvallis, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this month, and owner (and chocolatier) Patrick Magee lists two main reasons for the longevity. The first reason: “Really good product,” he says. The second reason: “We’re committed to building relationships with the community.” The store was founded in 1938 by Rhea and Charlie Burst; Magee took over from former owner Don Burck in 1996. Now, even after nearly two decades at the helm of Burst’s, Magee says he’s still having fun at the store: “I’m still young enough to show up every day.”
AMANDA COWAN | CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES
Patrick Magee, right, owner of Burst’s, pauses for a photo with manager Erin Rainey.
And, he says, he’s still learning new tricks,“especially with the social media.” With Halloween and the holidays right around the corner, this is the heart of the busy season for Burst’s: “We kind of keep rolling right through Easter,” Magee says. — Mike McInally, for Mid-Valley InBusiness
B US I N ESS STAT O F T H E M O N T H Oregon initial unemployment claims
Initial unemployment claims
6,644
July
7,225
6,860
June
8,108
Source: University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators
6,700
May
7,455
6,662
April
2012 2013
7,408
6,362
March
7,683
6,820
9,000 8,500 8,000 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000
8,261
If you need some evidence that Oregon’s unemployment picture slowly is improving, you won’t find it in a month-to-month comparison of a statistic like the number of initial unemployment claims filed each month in the state. But take a broader view — compare the number of claims filed in any given month to the number filed a year ago — and you see some evidence to support the position that our employment picture is a little brighter than it was a year ago.
August
High-poverty hotspots are defined as a census tract or contiguous group of tracts with a combined poverty rate of 20 percent or more. Poverty rates were measured using the Census Bureau’s 2006-2010 five-year American Community Survey. In Benton County, 19 percent of residents were defined as living in poverty – although the inclusion of Oregon State University students certainly skewed that number. In Linn and Lincoln counties, 16 percent of residents fall underneath the poverty standard. The state average is 14 percent. Here are the high-poverty hotspots in Benton and Linn counties: • South Corvallis, the area bounded by the Marys and Willamette rivers, the railroad tracks, the West Fork of the Bonneville Channel and Airport Road. • The portion of northwest Corvallis that lies north of Beca and Cornell, south of Conifer, east of Highland and mostly west of Highway 99W. • Southwest Albany extending from the Willamette River south to Highway 34, an area bounded on the west by Bryant Park, Pacific Boulevard and the Calapooia River and on the east by Cox Creek, Geary Street, Columbus Street and Interstate 5. • The north side of Lebanon, extending north along Highway 20 and west along Highway 34.