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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2015)
BUSINESS 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015 JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Maurices, a women’s clothing store, opened Jan. 23 at a newer, larger space at the North Coast Retail Center next to T.J. Maxx. From one shopping center to another By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The new retail building anchored by T.J. Maxx add- ed its first auxiliary tenant late last month, when Maurice’s opened its new location at 1479 S.E. Discovery Lane in the North Coast Retail Center, QHDU &RVWFR 0HDQZKLOH WKH<RXQJ¶V Bay Plaza lost one of its largest ten- ants. T.J. Maxx is still shooting for a store opening in early March, said Alec Pad- dock from Center Cal Properties, which runs several large shopping centers in the Portland Metro area and down the West Coast, Warrenton being one of its smaller projects. “We turned it over to them a few weeks ago,” said Paddock. “They’re doing their tenant buildout on the in- side.” Maurices’ move, he said, leaves two to three retail spaces to fill in the 21,000-square foot building, although no other companies have signed on yet. “We’re talking to a couple of fash- ion and restaurant-type uses.” 7KH <RXQJV %D\ 3OD]D EXLOW LQ 1977, has now lost Wauna Federal Credit Union, Gannaway Brothers Jewelry and Maurices to newer build- ings. %\ 6HSW )DUP *LUO )UR]HQ <R gurt closed at the plaza as its found- Making the Dollar INTERVIEWS WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES BY EDWARD STRATTON JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian The staff of Maurices poses for a photo after the ribbon cutting ceremony. ers moved to Idaho. And the supposed UHSODFHPHQW)UR<R¶]QHYHUPDWHULDO ized. “We have a handful of new tenants we’re talking with,” said Jeff Olsen of RTG Property Management, adding that there are about five spaces avail- able. Plaza owner Atlas Investments looks at the vacancies as a chance to consolidate spaces and move stuff around, he said, and they’re planning a refresh of the buildings to go along with recent improvements at Fred Meyer. Olson said he doesn’t see the North Coast Retail Center as competition for WKH <RXQJV %D\ 3OD]D ³7KH UHWDLOHUV in general like to be in markets where there are other large, successful retail- ers. It makes other retailers take a look at Warrenton.” Unemployment declines a bit in December Seasonally adjusted unem- ployment rates in northwest Oregon, including Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook coun- ties, continued a slow decline through December, according to data released Jan. 26 by the Or- egon Employment Department. The data covers seasonal employment data, comparing what’s expected with reality. In Clatsop County, the sea- sonally adjusted unemployment rate in December was 6 percent, slightly down from the previous month (6.1 percent) and the year before (6.2 percent). It was lower than the state- wide rate (6.7 percent) and above the national rate (5.6 per- cent). Clatsop County had the ¿IWKORZHVWXQHPSOR\PHQWUDWH in the state in December. Its un- employment peaked at 9.6 per- cent in early 2010 and declined fairly steadily until 2014. Clatsop County lost 170 nonfarm payroll employment jobs in December, 140 more than expected, leaving total nonfarm payroll employment at 17,260, 570 more than the year prior. The private sector cut 160 jobs over December, and gov- ernment employment dipped by 10. Leisure and hospitality cut 130 jobs; retail trade trimmed 20; and private educational and health services was the only in- dustry to show positive growth in December, adding 30 jobs. Industries in Clatsop County adding the most jobs over the past year included retail trade (240); leisure and hospitality (100); construction (90); and EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian Sandi Kelley is a certified Zentagle teacher based in Warrenton. Unemployment rates for Dec. 2014 * Tillamook County Clatsop Co. 6% Columbia Co. 7.7% National average 5.6% Tillamook Co. 6.1% Oregon 6.7% *Preliminary, seasonaly adjusted rates. Source: Oregon Employment Department professional and business ser- vices (70). Industries shedding the most jobs in the past year were durable goods manufactur- ing (40); transportation, ware- housing and utilities (50); and state government. Local gov- ernment added 110 jobs over the year, mostly in public education. Columbia County Columbia County’s season- ally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in Decem- ber, down slightly from the previous month (7.9 percent) and slightly higher than the year before (7.5 percent). Columbia County’s unemployment rate was 21st-lowest of Oregon’s 36 counties in December. The rate peaked at 14 percent in mid- 2009 then declined fairly steadi- ly until 2014. In December, Columbia County lost 60 nonfarm payroll employment jobs, 10 fewer than Clatsop County Property Transactions Seller: Columbia State Bank Buyer: Luottamus Partners, LLC Addresses: 1312 and 1332 Commer- cial St., Astoria Price: $515,000 Sellers: David L. Morgan, Nellie L. Morgan, Monica L. Raichl, Wade L. Morgan and Brenda L. Morgan change without a similar change in the number of payroll jobs lo- cated within the county. Daily Astorian graphic expected. That left total nonfarm payroll employment at 10,030, 180 more than the year prior. Over December, the private sector shed 70 jobs, and govern- ment employment increased by 10. Professional and business services cut 40 jobs. Over the past year, private sector employment rose by 120, and government employ- ment increased by 60. Industries adding the most jobs since last year were leisure and hospitality (60); manufacturing (60); and trade, transportation and utili- ties (40). Industries losing jobs included professional and busi- ness services (30); and private educational and health services (30). Local governments added 40 jobs over the year. Many Columbia County res- idents commute elsewhere for work, so it is not uncommon for the total number of employed people residing in the county to Buyer: Hecox Family, Inc. Address: 44601 U.S. Highway 26, Seaside Price: $300,000 Seller:&ODWVRS&RXQW\6KHULII¶V2I¿FH Buyer: Capital One, N.A. Address: 2068 Cooper Drive, Seaside Price: $280,060 Seller:&ODWVRS&RXQW\6KHULII¶V2I¿FH Buyer: Federal National Mortgage Association Address: 4709 Cedar St., Astoria Tillamook County’s season- ally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in Decem- ber, down from the previous month (6.4 percent) and the year before (6.5 percent). Tillamook County’s unemployment rate was seventh-lowest of Oregon’s 36 counties in December. The rate peaked at 10 percent in the spring of 2009. It declined unevenly since then and has changed little for the past year. In December, Tillamook County lost 100 jobs, 50 fewer than expected. That left total nonfarm payroll employment at 8,640, 390 higher than the year prior. Over December, the pri- vate sector cut 70 jobs, and gov- ernment employment dipped by 30. Leisure and hospitality shed 80 jobs; educational and health services added 30; and local governments trimmed 20. Over the past year, the pri- vate sector added 360 jobs, and governments chipped in 30. Industries adding the most jobs included leisure and hospitality (90); professional and business services (110); food manufac- turing (30); educational and health services (60); and trade, transportation and utilities (70). The next news release on seasonally adjusted employment ¿JXUHVFRPHVRXW0DUFK Unemployment rates for other counties can be found at http://tinyurl.com/pzuosru Price: $228,481 Seller: Ellen Sue Davies Collins Buyers: William D. Miner III and Jody L. Gallino Address: 1062 Jerome Ave., Astoria Price: $225,000 Sellers: Melissa C. Sutkowski and David M. Sutkowski Buyer: David K. Konyha Address: 1798 Spruce Drive A and B, Seaside Price: $220,500 Sandi Kelley &HUWL¿HG=HQWDQJOH7HDFKHU Warrenton 503-440-9788 or info@tanglesandthreads.com 7KHUH¶V D GLIIHUHQFH EHWZHHQ =HQWDQJOH DQG PHUH GRR dling, says Sandi Kelley, and the difference is focus. She WHDFKHV=HQWDQJOHDPHGLWDWLYHSURFHVVRIGUDZLQJVWUXFWXUHG patterns (www.zentangle.com). Kelley, based in Warrenton, teaches classes by appointment and has pieces shown in vari- ous local galleries and at Coffee Addiction in Warrenton. Kel- ley can also be found on her website, www.tanglesandthreads. com/ What is it that you do? ³:KDW,GRLVLQVWUXFWDQGWHDFKWKHDUWNQRZQDV=HQ tangle. There’s been a lot of misconception when it comes WR=HQWDQJOH$ORWRISHRSOHWKHLUNQHHMHUNUHDFWLRQLVKRZ can they put a trademark on art. And that’s not what they’ve GRQH7KH\¶YH WUDGHPDUNHG WKH QDPH WKH ZRUG =HQWDQJOH %XWZKDW=HQWDQJOHLVLW¶VQRWDUWLW¶VDFWXDOO\DSURFHVVRI breaking down patterns and putting them into simple lines and simple strokes of the pen, to recreate them on paper.” How did you get into this business? “I was searching the big time-suck, Pinterest, and I came DFURVVVRPH=HQWDQJOHZRUNVRPHERG\KDGGRQHDQG,KDG never heard of it before. So immediately you go to the source, I went to zentangle.com, and found out more about it. Not RQO\LVLWDQDUWLW¶VDYHU\=HQOLNHLI\RXSUDFWLFHLWHYHU\ day. If you want to use it as a therapy, it works great, because it’s really easy to get lost in the focus of what you’re doing. I’ve been teaching now for two years, and it’s really hard to JHWLQWRWKHVFKRROEHFDXVHWKH\RQO\KDYH¿YHFODVVHVD\HDU DQGWKH\¶UHXVXDOO\ERRNHGZLWKLQDZHHNRIQRWL¿FDWLRQ<RX have to go to the East Coast, to Providence, R.I., and you’re WDXJKWE\WKHSHRSOHZKRFUHDWHG=HQWDQJOH´ Who are your main clientele? “People who just are intrigued by the fact that we say there are no mistakes and anybody can do it. I was skeptical when I saw the stuff that was posted online. I doodled when I was in high school, but it never looked like this. This looks like doodling to me, and it looks like doodling to a lot of people. It’s been older, younger. I’ve had several men in my classes, but mostly women.” What are some of the quirks or challenges of running your business? “Mostly getting people to understand what it is and what it isn’t. I had a booth at the Sunday Market, and some people get really pugilistic about it being a trademark. And there was one lady who wouldn’t let me take a breath, she was so adamant that it was a terrible thing to do. My guess is that most peo- ple who think it’s not really an art to do this are people who could create this without a class, whose doodles actually look like something. But for those of us who had no talent and had GRRGOHVWKDWZHUHMXVWSHQPDUNVRQFH,¿JXUHG,FRXOGGRLW anybody could do it, because I had no background, no talent, nothing when I started.” Ready, set, start your business SEASIDE — Tom Leiner continues his business start- up class, “Ready, Set, Start <RXU%XVLQHVV´IURPWR 10:30 a.m. Feb. 18 in Clatsop Community College’s South County Campus at 1455 N. Roosevelt Drive in Seaside. The class teaches prospec- tive entrepreneurs how to identify reasons for starting a business, whether ownership is the right choice for them, how to evaluate business op- portunities, learn the basics of starting a business, research market potential and plan for and manage growth. The class costs $20, pay- able by check or credit card at class. To register, email SBDC@clatsopcc.edu or call 503-338-2402. After the class, if partici- pants decide to actively pursue a business, they can schedule a IUHH DQG FRQ¿GHQWLDO DSSRLQW PHQW ZLWK D TXDOL¿HG DGYLVHU through CCC’s Small Business Development Center.