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,
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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.”
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1977, has now lost Wauna Federal
Credit Union, Gannaway Brothers
Jewelry and Maurices to newer build-
ings.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Warrenton
503-440-9788 or
info@tanglesandthreads.com
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dling, says Sandi Kelley, and the difference is focus. She
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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?
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tangle. There’s been a lot of misconception when it comes
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can they put a trademark on art. And that’s not what they’ve
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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
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never heard of it before. So immediately you go to the source,
I went to zentangle.com, and found out more about it. Not
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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
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have to go to the East Coast, to Providence, R.I., and you’re
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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
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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
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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
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through CCC’s Small Business
Development Center.