July 13. 2011
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
^lorilanh (Ob»eruer
Page II
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
M ETRO
Home Town City Liquidators
Landmark
business
unites
generations
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
As one of the few remaining
local, family-owned businesses
passionate about their work,
members of the Pelett family
can be found daily on the sales
floor of City Liquidators, in
cluding store-owner and fa
th er, W alt, m anager and
mother, Pamela, and their three
children, head of sales and son,
Zach, and daughters Emma and
Ellie.
After a brief stint at college,
Zach realized the opportunity
to work at his father’s store
was not worth passing up. As
toddlers Zach and his sisters
starred in local City Liquidator
commercials, and since then,
„
...
photo BY M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bservei
have remained involved in the ...
Wa/f Pelett and his son Zach Pelett work alongside each other running City Liquidators, a family-owned, giant furniture and home
business.
accessories warehouse in southeast Portland since 1977.
by
photo by
C ari H achmann /T he P ortland O bserver
Quinton Searcy (from left), Zach Pelett and Andrew Bayona have been friends since childhood and
are now all employed on the second floor salesroom o f the main City Liquidator’s warehouse in
southeast Portland.
Not only have the Pelett chil
dren been brought up immersed
in the family-business, but their
friends have too. Walt says
it’s exciting for both him and
his wife to have their son and
daughters’ friends come work
at the store throughout high
school and college.
Now Z a c h ’s ch ild h o o d
friends, Quinton Searcy and
Andrew Bayona, help him run
the 2nd floor sales floor.
“T hey’re good kids and
we’ve had an opportunity to
help a lot of kids earn money
while they go to school,” said
Walt, who remembers hosting
his kids and friends’ high school
prom dinner and after-party
inside the main warehouse.
The sen io r P elett first
opened City Liquidators as a
second-hand store in 1977. The
business has evolved into
Oregon’s largest show room,
featuring brand new home and
office furniture.
Unique to the sort, City Liq
uidators literally sells every
thing under the sun; from
barstools, sofas, recliners, and
futons to decorative art, model-
ships, m irrors, bookcases,
chandeliers and gumball ma
chines. Shopping the isles of
this eclectic warehouse is like
hunting for treasures in the
m ansion o f an A m erican
grandfather eccentric.
Hand-selected by the diverse
personalities of each Pelett fam
ily member, the merchandise
comes from some of the world’s
most renowned trade shows,
places like Las Vegas and
Highpoint, N.C. The furnishings
fill three on-site City Liquidators
warehouses and decorates three
floors of the 160,000 square foot
main building.
continued
on page 11