THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017
Business / Agriculture
Grocery Outlet a go!
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
After more than a year’s
worth of communication
and information shar-
ing, on Monday, Baker
County Economic De-
velopment Director Greg
Smith announced that
Grocery Outlet, Inc. has
completed a real estate
deal to secure a location
for the construction of a
new store in Baker City, a
move, which he said will
create economic growth,
and showcase the business
opportunities available east
of the I-84 freeway.
Smith said in a press
release, “This is a great
project that will continue
to help Baker City and
Baker County grow. We
have been excited about
this development, and look
forward to welcoming
Grocery Outlet to the com-
munity.”
The selected site for the
store is east of the freeway
and south of Campbell
Street, a property sale that
was facilitated by Greg
Sackos-managed Inter-
mountain Realty, Smith
said. Rosenda Somoza,
Account Executive for
California-based ROX
United, which handles
public relations for Gro-
cery Outlet, also based in
California, released the
following information,
from the Grocery Outlet
Real Estate Team:
“Grocery Outlet, Inc.
is negotiating a site for a
new store in Baker City; It
will be located at the SEC
(Southern End of Concur-
rency) of I-84 & Highway
7 (Campbell Street); It will
be a newly constructed,
19,000 square foot, free
standing building; We
have received many calls
and emails over the years
from the residents of Baker
City, for a new store in
their community; The store
is currently scheduled to
open in early 2019; Hiring
will be conducted only at
the store when construc-
tion is almost finished,
late in 2018; The cur-
rently closest store is in
La Grande, and we are
pleased to be able to join
the fine community of
Baker City.”
The press release from
Smith also included com-
ments from Baker County
Board of Commissioners
Chair Bill Harvey, Baker
County Economic De-
velopment Council Chair
Craig Ward, and Baker
City Manager Fred Warner,
Jr.
Harvey said, “Grocery
Outlet is a great fit for
Baker County citizens.
The store will be an asset
to the community, and
coincide well with our area
grocery options.”
Ward said, “I am pleased
to welcome Grocery Outlet
to the community. Greg
and his team have been
diligent in securing this
project, and supporting
growth in Baker County.”
Warner, Jr. said, “We are
so pleased that Grocery
Outlet has chosen Baker
City for expansion. We
believe that they will be a
great community partner,
and an asset to our com-
munity. I would like to
thank all the people who
worked hard to make this
economic development
effort successful.”
During an interview,
Smith emphasized the
team effort involved,
which he said also includes
Baker County Planning
Director Holly Kerns, and
he elaborated on the effort
and future development
of the store, the ground
breaking of which he an-
ticipates will happen some-
time next Spring. “It’s kind
of exciting—it will create
about 20 to 25 jobs. The
really exciting part is, it’s
going to help us by open-
ing up the other side of the
freeway, with a nationally
known brand,” he said.
Smith said that one of
the roadblocks to locating
a Grocery Outlet store in
Baker City has been the
regulations regarding size
limits for signs placed
within the Freeway Over-
lay District, where both the
store and any associated
signs would be located.
Deepak Prashar, who owns
the Super 8 Motel and
leases the Motel 6, both on
Campbell Street east of the
freeway, showcased the is-
sues with commercial sign
size limits, and brought
this subject to the attention
of the County Economic
Development Council
(EDC), and City Council.
According to Grocery
Outlet company informa-
tion, “significant pylon and
building signage” is re-
quired for a store location,
however, Smith said, “Fred
(Warner, Jr.) and his team
were successful in helping
with that,” with continuing
effort to modify the City
sign ordinance, allowing
for greater signage expo-
sure along the freeway.
He said, “It’s important
to those businesses, to be
able to get that signage,
to get people to stop here,
instead of going to Ontario
or La Grande.” Smith said
that the EDC unanimously
supported the idea of
modifying the ordinance,
and addressed a letter to
City Council to state so.
With the signage issue
set to be resolved, Smith
said, it appeared that the
only remaining primary
concerns for Grocery
Outlet were obtaining
reasonable terms on real
estate, and feeling that the
community would support
the store, both of which
Smith had no doubt are
also resolved. He said, “I
think this store’s going to
do very well in Baker. I
think the whole County is
going to be served from
this store.”
When speaking with
representatives and the de-
veloper for Grocery Outlet,
Smith said that he shared
various details, among
them, traffic and popula-
tion information, and the
effects of the Albertsons
and Safeway merger
situation, which left Baker
City with Safeway as the
sole major grocer and the
Albertsons building vacant
for a significant period of
time, before its doors were
reopened for business.
Smith said that hav-
ing shopping choices has
always been a concern in
the community. He said,
“Folks all along have
supported Albertsons and
Safeway. They’re great,
and we have two, rather
than just one, but I think
we all know that folks
would like a third option—
I think this will provide it.”
As part of the process to
bring Grocery Outlet into
Baker City, Harvey had
asked Smith to acquire
details regarding the
operation of the store in
La Grande, and both were
surprised to learn that the
company’s business model
involves a single owner/
operator for each location,
as opposed to say, manag-
ing two locations, which
they thought may be a
possibility.
Both Harvey and Smith
said that Grocery Out-
let corporate said “No,”
regarding this possibility,
however, they piqued the
company’s interest, and
Harvey said, “...they sent
people to look at multiple
sites, and they finally
decided on the site they
selected.”
Smith said that, as far as
he knows, an owner/opera-
tor hasn’t been chosen yet,
for this location.
Smith said that the deci-
sion by Grocery Outlet to
pass on Baker City at the
time was disappointing,
“But, what it did was, it
got us on the map. All of a
sudden, they realized, that
yeah, there’s a demand for
Grocery Outlet in town,
and seven months later,
here they are. They’re put-
ting one in Burns (Oregon-
based Dickerhoof Proper-
ties took on construction
of that location).” He said
that he anticipates the bid
for store construction be-
ing open to local contrac-
tors and sub-contractors,
which would provide more
local job opportunities.
During an interview with
Harvey, he said, “I think
it’s going to be a huge
asset to Baker County,
— Weekly Hay Report —
because we want to en-
courage businesses to go
onto the other side of the
freeway, with all the open
spaces we have over there.
You literally have a ‘clean
slate,’ to start with, to put
in what you want to put
in...This is a great catalyst,
to get people started out in
that direction...”
He agreed with Smith
that the store would
provide economic growth
for the community, but
Harvey sees it as a more
focused benefit. “A Gro-
cery Outlet will take care
of the community that it’s
in. That gives a shopper
another avenue for selec-
tion, and hopefully, price
reduction, and meet their
particular needs, as far as
their budget” he said, as
he explained that it will
be a bigger draw for local
shoppers, than for people
elsewhere in the County,
or people coming in off
the freeway, though he
said that the location will
certainly pull in travelers
from I-84.
Harvey, who worked
for Safeway from 1972 to
1981, and whose par-
ents also worked for the
company, said, “I was in
all aspects of the grocery
business, so, I know the
business well, and I knew
Grocery Outlet would be a
good fit.”
He sees benefits regard-
ing Grocery Outlet’s
expansion into Baker City,
but, he said, “Some people
may think something nega-
tive towards it, but, any
time we’ve got job oppor-
tunities in Baker, you have
to think that the people
who work there are going
to spend their money in
Baker. So, other business-
es do gain a benefit from
that ... those people have
money to go out to dinner,
or go down town and buy
something they don’t sell
at a Grocery Outlet store.
So, you’re benefiting the
community as a whole,
when you do that.”
During an interview,
Warner, Jr. said, “You
know, Albertsons and
Safeway—I mean, I’m
glad we’ve got two gro-
cery stores, but when they
merged, I thought they
were still going to be a bit
separate, and they’re not.
And, to have another gro-
cery store in would give
people choices. We have
a bunch of leakage, of
people going to La Grande,
to Wal-Mart, and to
Grocery Outlet. Anything
we can do to keep people
buying local is good for
our economy. The more
stuff we have here, the less
they’ll go elsewhere—
that’s just money going
out of the community.
They’ve (Grocery Outlet)
become quite a store—I
like the one in La Grande.”
DH Wagon & Carriage provide services
to guests at the Geiser Grand Hotel
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
This month, Holly Boyer
and Danny Clary, owners
of Haines-based DH Wag-
on & Carriage, provided
guests of the Geiser Grand
Hotel with the first down-
town horse-drawn carriage
rides of their new venture,
which they launched
earlier this year. Boyer
and Geiser Grand owner
Barbara Sidway shared the
same sentiment: “We’re
very excited about it.”
Boyer, who grew up in
the Baker Valley, met fi-
ance and business partner,
Danny Clary, of Ohio,
on social media through
mutual friends, became
good friends themselves
over a period of years, and
decided to “see what there
was of it,” Boyer said. She
said, with a laugh, “I don’t
have any complaints about
Facebook now.”
Friday, October 20, 2017 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady in a limited test.
Sporadic rain showers and thunderstorms in hay
growing areas has hindered haying process. Retail/
Stable type hay remains the largest demanded hay.
Demand for organic hay increased this week.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa / Orchard Mix Small Square Premium
27 175.00-185.00 182.41
Mixed Grass Small Square Utility
300 45.00-45.00 45.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1,690
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 185.00-221.00 Top 225.00
400-500# Bulk 165.00-195.00 Top 203.50
500-600# Bulk 135.00-163.00 Top 167.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 140.00-169.00 Top 173.00
400-500# Bulk 131.00-160.00 Top 164.00
500-600# Bulk 125.00-143.00 Top 144.50
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 134.00-158.00 Top 161.00
700-800# Bulk 125.00-150.00 Top 152.00
800-900# Bulk 130.00-148.00 Top 150.00
900-1,000# Bulk 110.00-118.00 Top 121.00
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 130.00-145.00 Top 148.00
700-800# Bulk 125.00-138.00 Top 141.00
800-900# Bulk 115.00-134.00 Top 140.00
900-1,000# Bulk 108.00-118.00 Top 126.00
Thin Shelly Cows 42.00-55.00
Butcher Cows 56.00-66.00
Butcher Bulls 65.00-76.00
Stock Cows N/A
Younger Hfrts. N/A
Stock Cows Young - N/A
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Prices are based on the majority of saw mills in
Northeastern Oregon and Central Idaho. The prices
listed below are a composite prices of various saw-
mills willing to visit with me about this topic.
Ponderosa Pine—small diameter class 8-11 inches
diameter class $250 per mbf. Only one sawmill was
willing to buy small diameter pine at this time.
Ponderosa Pine—medium diameter class 12-17
inches diameter class $300 to $350 per mbf
Ponderosa Pine-large diameter class 18 plus inches
diameter class $380 to $410 per mbf
The Pine prices are still approximately $40 per mbf
below average lumber/log market due to 2017 fire
salvage
Doug Fir & Western Larch—$380 to $420 per
mbf. Normal prices typically ranged between $425
to $475 per mbf.
White Fir-$300 per mbf. Normal prices typically
ranged between $340 to $360 per mbf.
Engelmann Spruce—$350 at one Idaho sawmill,
other sawmills including with White fir prices.
In general, the log prices still impacted from 2015
fire season and fire salvage that resulted. Sawmills
are starting to get log yard inventory in line with
sawmill production needs. With a new Administra-
tion as of 1/20/2017, a more normal economic envi-
ronment should result and hopefully a more healthy
housing situation will result in a better climate for
Northeast Oregon Sawmill and private forest land-
owners.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,271.00
Silver: $16.84
Platinum: $920.91
Palladium: $973.19
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
SEE DH WAGON &
CARRIAGE PAGE 7
Submitted Photo.
Owners Holly Boyer and Danny Clary.
Corn: $351.50/bu/USD
Wheat: $432.50/bu/USD
Soybeans: $985.25/bu/USD
Oats: $265.50 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $11.11/cwt/USD
Canola: $516.20 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $120.78//lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $156.75/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $65.20/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com