Washington Retail Association monitoring several key issues affecting retail sector this legislative sessionIt’s already starting to look a lot like Christmas as retailers rearrange their store layouts and offer new merchandise for the holiday season.With Thanksgiving a week later than usual—this year it falls on Nov. 28; in 2018 it...
By D. Patrick JonesThe sale of goods is big business in the greater Tri-Cities. As Benton-Franklin Trends data reveals, the retail sector has consistently ranked as the fourth largest employer in the area’s workforce. Over the course of the past 15 years, local retailers’ share of the workforce has stayed...
CEO/owner of Marla June’s Clothing Co.Number of employees you oversee: 10 Marla June BarnhartBrief background about your education: Associate degree, Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon.How did you find your current role? I became chief operating officer for Marla June’s Clothing in 2005, when I changed my career from...
Benton County’s total increases, Franklin County’s total dipsA steady increase in construction once again helped boost the state’s total taxable retail sales.The most recent numbers released by the state are for the first quarter of 2019, and showed 4.9 percent growth over the same period in 2018, reaching $39.4 billion. Data...
Lola Franklin, CEO of Tri-City Association of Realtors, Lower Yakima Valley Association of Realtors and Pacific Regional Multiple Listing ServiceBrief background of your business:I work for two nonprofit trade associations and a for-profit subsidiary. The Realtor associations were established in the 1950s. They serve real estate licensees and the real...
Construction is underway on the Tri-Cities’ second Bath & Body Works store, planned for the Queensgate area of Richland.The company’s corporate office said the store is scheduled to open in early 2019 at 2471 Queensgate Drive, Suite A7.The developer of the Vintner Square property, Bowman Development Co., narrowed the store’s...
Tri-City retailers are optimistic about the upcoming holiday shopping season.“Our market usually outperforms the national trend due to our strong local economy,” said Barbara Johnson, general manager of Columbia Center mall in Kennewick. “It’s always kind of like looking into a crystal ball. I’m expecting consumer spending locally to be...
Barbara Johnson,General manager atSimon Property Group – Columbia Center mallBrief background of your business:Columbia Center is the largest regional shopping center in Eastern Washington and Oregon, with more than 125 stores and restaurants. Columbia Center was built in the Tri-Cities in 1969 and will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the...
The owner of a 100-year-old retail mainstay in downtown Kennewick is winding down operations.“Age and time and generations running out; the business is healthy, happy and doing great, but it’s just time for us to change course,” said John Gravenslund, owner and general manager of True Value Washington Furniture and...
By D. Patrick JonesIt’s November and ’tis the season. Holiday decorations, a parade of ads, the Hallmark channel showing lots of Christmas trees and, of course, the ever-present music reminds us that it is time to shop. For most retailers, as this quarter goes, so go the results for the...
