Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1979)
Wednesday, March 28, 1979 - THREE T-Shirts Plus Family Effort 1 , , j ' w , . 1 W ' 'I f f ' k ? -I f 'WW1 1 Mallicoat family (from left), Mamie, Rob, Dale and Jo. For Shoe Salesman (Herald photo T-shirts emblazoned with catchy phrases and artwork have become a new rage in Hermiston, thanks to the efforts of Dale and Jo Mallicoat. The local couple opened T Shirts Plus at the Hermiston Plaza Shopping Center late last year and discovered a market eager for their product. Sales have been so good, in fact, that the local store has consistently ranked among the top 20 in T-Shirts Plus outlets across the country, said Dale Mallicoat, who has quit his job as the manager of a local truss plant to devote more time to the business. The ranking is especially signi ficant since Hermiston is the smallest town in the T-Shirts Plus chain. The customer response has been "outstanding," Mallicoat said. The store specializes in trans ferring decals onto the fronts or backs of t-shirts. And Malli coat feels that part of the store's success is due to keeping the selection of decals "family orient ed." He cited an instance where several people objected to a decal. It was removed from the inventory and eventually des troyed, he said. The Mallicoats started with around 400 decals when they opened last November. That total is now around 800. In addition to the decals, the store offers a wide variety of t-shirts, ranging in size from six months to extra-large. There are also customized hats and bumper stickers, maternity top t-shirts and shorts. Customers have more to choose from than just decals. Lettering can be used to print almost anything on t-shirts and transferable decals can be made from a favorite photo. The store handles individual and group orders. Mallicoat said some customers don't realize that their custom t-shirts can be made while they wait. "They don't realize we can do it right now." The store has been a family enterprise with Dale and Jo getting help from their two children Marnie and Rob inbetween school and sports activities. N March 29th f I V i 894 H Herrr H ectic Pace Forces Change Although Don Clark has been selling quality shoes for about 17 years, he no longer deals with the quantity he once did. Before moving to Hermiston and opening Clark's Shoes last summer, he worked the major shoe markets while living in Portland. He began his career at Nord strom's, managing the shoe de partment and buying the shoes the store sold. He figures his department was doing about $1 million worth of business an nually by the time he left. From there it was on to Lipp- ..4Vs";-X'-W''4 ! r " r J O ( , ' man's, where he served as buyer for seven stores around the northwest. When he left there, he was buying about 150,000 pair of shoes a year and the stores were doing about $3 million in annual business. His life was a hectic one then. He was making several buying trips a year to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago! Seattle, etc. In short, he was "out and moving and going all the time." And the work was complicated at time, too. When he started at Lippman's, for example, he did his buying after analyzing one computer print-out. By the time he left, there were seven print outs. "That's why I'm here," he says. "It was getting worse." Clark doesn't have any regrets about leaving the big city life. He and his family like the local community, and he enjoys own ing his own store. "And I like to think we're in on the first step of a major growth pattern in the area," he adds. His biggest adjustment has been limiting the number of shoes he buys. After having bought for the major department stores, he says he feels like the woman who wants to overspend her shopping budget. "But we're doing the same thing here; it's just on a smaller scale," he says. In fact, he takes pride in attempting "to bring a little Nordstrom's to the area." Clark has been more than satisfied with his business. "It's been good so far, very good," he says. Most customers have returned a second time, and "that's a pretty good indication we're doing something right," he says. JfcSr Martha Manning , W DRESSES Match Your Lucky Number To These Priies: LUGGAGE Airway Industries 26 Inch Pullman $52.00 Value $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE DINNER FOR TWO AT FRASU'S $35.00 Value Register For FREE DRAWINGS Special In-store Drawing! SAT., MARCH 31 Patio Dress Short Dress SAT., APRIL 7 Top Pants lermiston Plaza liston 567-7815 Miscellaneous W I Sale Rack m l& Long Dresses kM Short Dresses ) Open Till 9 PM, Thurs., Fri. I Sat. March 29, 30 & 31 and April 5, 6, & 7 Style Galore For Gals With More Hours: Mon. thru Thurs. 1 0-6 Friday 1 0-8 Saturday 1 0-6 ioe for tike Don Clark - Selling shoes for 17 years. (Herald photo Sprouse Selection 'Family Oriented' Sprouse-Reitz is keeping its tradition of a "family-oriented" store alive in spacious new quarters at the Hermiston Plaza Shopping Center. The 15,000 square foot store is about double the size of its old facility at the corner of SE Second Street and Highway 395 and has given its manager, Mike Houtz, a chance to display his wares. Variety is the key with areas set aside for small pets, clothing (from infants to adults), luggage, curtains and shades, toys, school supplies, plants, stationary, pic ture frames and small drug items. Houtz has been with Sprouse Reitz for about 21 years and was the store's manager in Hermis ton when it opened in November A. Women's Reg. 12.99 C MenH Reg. 15.99 $12PQ B. Girls' Reg. 6.99 OJ A. White dress sandal is sparked with gold. It also offers flexible sole for super comfort. B. Easy care black uppers with dainty gold trim have one strap easy-fit for your little girl. C. Crisscross tapered vamp and higher heel bring fashion to the front row in this shiny black oxford. D. Young men hop into these dressy brown step-ins. Mom will love the easy care & rugged construction. Specials good through this weekend. Good shoes don't have to be expensive HOURS: 9 am - 9 pm Daily, 1 2-5 pm Sunday. Hermiston Plaza 896 S Hiway 395, Hermiston 567-7314 MikeHoutz (Herald photo) l9?0
