REGION
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
East Oregonian
A3
Condon Times-Journal
sold to new local owner
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Jade McDowell, File
Racks of clothing stretch down an aisle of Ranch & Home in Hermiston during the first day of its soft opening earlier this year.
Businesses consider more than
size when choosing a location
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — From
Red Robin to Costco,
everyone has a wish list of
restaurants or stores they
wish were closer.
Those businesses have
their own lists of what
they need in a new loca-
tion, however, and some
communities don’t mea-
sure up. A city might have
too few people, too much
competition, not enough
local spending, too low of
a median income or be too
far away from an interstate.
Companies today are
able to analyze exactly
what makes for a success-
ful location and what each
community has to offer,
Hermiston assistant city
manager Mark Morgan
said.
“There are companies
out there that know more
about Hermiston than we
do as far as the market,” he
said.
Companies can go
beyond looking at the num-
ber of people living in a
market, for example, and
see how many locals are
actually shopping there.
Consultants like Retail
Coach put together anal-
yses by using cellphone
location data from the
many apps that make their
money by quietly tracking
users’ location and selling
the information.
“Your cellphone knows
where you live because it
knows where you sleep at
night,” Morgan said.
From there, a company
can analyze how many
Hermiston residents are
shopping or eating in the
Tri-Cities, or create a “heat
map” of sorts showing
where visitors to a certain
Hermiston store are com-
ing from.
“If you really want
to help drive additional
resources to Hermiston,
spend more of your money
in Hermiston,” Morgan
said.
Most businesses the
East Oregonian contacted
to ask about what they
look for in a new locations
didn’t respond.
Olive Garden did send
over a list of its site selec-
tion criteria. The require-
ments include a trade area
of at least 100,000 people
within a 15-minute drive
(Hermiston’s ZIP code
held 50,415 in 2016) and a
property of at least 2 acres
with at least 20,000 average
daily trips past it (Hermis-
ton’s busiest intersection
at Highway 395 and Elm
Avenue sees 22,000 vehi-
cles per day). Other restau-
rants owned by the chain’s
parent company Darden
require as high as 30,000 to
50,000 average daily trips.
Some chains set their
sights lower. According
to Golden Corral’s web-
site, their smallest restau-
rant model is made for
sites with 21,500 average
daily trips, 45,000 people
within a 15-minute drive
and 70,000 people within a
20-minute drive.
Costco, which has
been the subject of rumor
in many cities in East-
ern Oregon and Washing-
ton, declined to comment
on its site selection prac-
tices. Documents on a few
websites, including a a flier
on the Gallelli Real Estate
website, indicate Costco
is looking for sites with
200,000 people within a
5-mile radius and a median
income of $75,000. Herm-
iston’s median income was
$49,559 in 2016.
Of course, there are
older Costcos that don’t
fit that rule — the small-
est Costco is located in
Juneau, Alaska, population
32,164. But many brick and
mortar retailers are also
expanding more cautiously
now that they have to com-
pete with online retailers.
Not everyone consid-
ers Hermiston too small
— Panda Express just
announced it is building a
new restaurant in the for-
mer Stockman’s Steak-
house location. Hermis-
ton has also welcomed
new retail in the past five
years, including Ranch &
Home, Harbor Freight and
Petsense.
The community has also
seen the addition of locally
owned restaurants such as
Delish Bistro and Veg Out.
Morgan said the city pro-
vides a treasure trove of
market data on its website
to assist entrepreneurs who
may not have the resources
to conduct their own mar-
ket analysis.
Morgan said people tend
to be willing to drive fur-
ther for some things than
others, which is why dif-
ferent businesses may be
looking at differently sized
“trade areas.”
“Something
like
7-Eleven is going to have
a very different drive time
people are willing to do
versus something like
Home Depot,” he said.
It also makes a differ-
ence how many compet-
itors are already there —
Morgan said when people
ask why The Dalles has a
Fred Meyer even though
it’s smaller than Hermiston,
he points out The Dalles
doesn’t have a Walmart
that already offers many of
the same goods.
He said the city’s
approach to recruiting
restaurants and retail is
generally to “set the table”
for them with good infra-
structure and fewer hur-
dles. Hermiston, unlike
most cities, does not
require a business license
with the exception of
food trucks.
CONDON — The Con-
don Times-Journal is chang-
ing local hands after Steven
and Renee Allen purchased
the newspaper on July 1 from
McLauren Stinchfield of
Macro Graphics Condon.
Stinchfield owned, pub-
lished, and edited the paper for
the last 45 years.
“I don’t really know what to
think of it yet. I’m not sure of
how to think of there not being
anymore deadlines,” Stinch-
field said. “It’s been a great 45
years and has been an honor
and a privilege to publish in
my hometown.”
The small town located
in Gilliam County has relied
on the weekly paper for local
journalism since 1886, and
the now-former owner doesn’t
want that to stop.
“It just has to continue, and
it will,” Stinchfield said and
highlighted that the married
couple are young and ready to
take over.
Steven Allen, 40, said that
he and his wife Renee, 38, are
family friends with the Stinch-
fields and that they’ve been
leaning on their “institutional
knowledge” of the business
and community.
“We’re really fortunate
to have them as mentors,”
Steven said.
When asked, Steven
declined to comment on or
disclose the purchase price of
the paper.
Prior to the purchase, Ste-
ven has worked on commu-
nity development projects and
nonprofits in the area, while
Renee is a graphic designer
and web developer. When
asked why they purchased the
paper, Steven pointed to his
family and his deep roots to
the region.
Steven’s grandmother was
a first generation immigrant
from Scotland and grew up in
Condon, where she ultimately
graduated from the local high
school in 1954.
Steven grew up in the sur-
rounding areas and said he and
his wife are ready to take on
the responsibility as the town’s
source for local news.
“It felt like time to come
home,” Steven said. “We
want to play a role in serving,
helping and developing our
community.”
The Oregon Newspaper
Publishers Association lists the
paper’s circulation as 1,306.
Along with their watchdog
role in the community, Steven
added that he wanted to help the
area technologically adapt to
the changes of today. And with
Renee’s specializations, they
hope to help local businesses
increase and improve their
online presence.
BRIEFLY
County jail getting full body scanner
PENDLETON — Umatilla County Jail staff are getting a new
tool to prevent people from smuggling in contraband.
The county board of commissioners Wednesday approved the
purchase of a $173,000 full-body scanner for the jail. Sheriff’s
Capt. Thoren Hearn oversees the jail and explained to the board
at its public meeting the need for device.
During the past year, he said, the jail has had at least six
instances where someone was able to bring in and use drugs,
even after strip searches, including a female who overdosed on
fentanyl two out of her last three stays. The full body scanner, he
said, would detect such contraband.
The $172,800 price includes training on the device and a five-
year warranty. Command Sourcing Inc. of Loomis, California, is
suppling the scanner, and the county is buying through a partner-
ship with Clackamas County.
Hearn also told the board the jail received more revenue than
the sheriff’s office expected, and that money can cover the cost
of the scanner.
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