West Lane News Ed Op

This is an Editorial I was asked to write for the West Lane News shortly before they went out of business this winter.
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Oh, the joys of running a small business! Working harder for yourself than you ever did for anyone else, you find your satisfaction in even the smallest things. Surviving the economic slow down of last winter . . . priceless! In business just as in life, we learned to trim out the fat in our diets and run lean in order to keep our doors open. We cut expenses right and left, scrutinizing every aspect of our operations but especially our labor budget. Trimming the labor budget often meant taking more of the work load on yourself. There is no handyman. There’s you staying late to fix the gate or step or one of the many other things that breakdown in a business. We were also forced to take a hard look at our customers and who we were serving to better focus our limited marketing dollars.

In a former bedroom community like ours so close to a large city like Eugene, most small businesses will have two customer bases they need to reach in order to succeed – the locals and the visitors. We all love the convenience of shopping and dining locally, but what if the local traffic isn’t enough to keep a business’s doors open?

Locals are our bread and butter, the customers we rely on for day to day business. Visitors are the gravy, the little extra that tips the scales to carry us over until next month. We rely on our bread and butter both to frequent our business and to support our everyday needs. As part of a small community, businesses need to support other businesses. We need the mechanic down the road to keep our vehicles running, the local bookkeeper when we have questions beyond the day to day, and a friendly insurance provider down the road to protect our business investment. No one lives in a vacuum here. Still, small businesses struggle to survive on local customers alone. We need the visitors too. This is where tourism comes in and gives the local economy a boost.

The word ‘tourism’ is bandied about in political circles at the county and state level as the new industry for former logging communities. But what does it mean to you and I?

I have found it beneficial to visualize tourism as a rain (very Oregonian, I know). As the rain of tourism begins to fall near one business first, the affect is felt elsewhere as the rain gathers and accumulates on the ground. First we see puddles and then streams of runoff along the side of the road. Rivers rise. Lakes rise. Until we can all see the results of the rain and the higher water levels everywhere around town. As the Fern Ridge Chamber of Commerce motto says, “a rising tide floats all boats.” What this rather poetic example is trying to say is that when even one business is growing and doing well, it benefits us all. Whether the traffic coming through town is because Our Daily Bread is serving a tour group from McMinnville or Stillpoint Farms is hosting a summer concert, we all benefit to some degree. Visitors need gas, a meal, somewhere to shop, somewhere to play and any number of other necessities along the way. Visitors who stay and play in our community are more likely to come again and may even consider staying for good. When the business community is doing well, it’s good for everyone.

Like all growing things, businesses need to be watered and nourished. Do your part and support your local small business by frequenting it. As far as the rest . . . bring on the rain!

Wine Tasting in Southern Oregon

Monday, the hubby and I headed down to Southern Oregon for some wine tasting at my parent's recommendation. Unfortunately the one vineyard we were heading down to visit (un-named intentionally) was closed Monday. Instead we visited three other vineyards in the area: Henry's, Melrose Vineyards, and Hillcrest. The local area was home to 18 different wineries all of which shared a multitude marketing endeavors including "Wine Tour" signage, billboards, maps, and matching wine bags for all wine purchases at the various vineyards. The cooperation between these intensely competitive businesses was extraordinary! The vineyards went so far as to call each other when their hours changed as was the case the vineyard we originally sought to visit. They had called around after unexpectedly changing their hours about a week earlier and Henry's tasting room had the info. Anyway . . . on to the wine!

I don't have the luxury of tasting wine for only myself. Every time I taste a new Oregon wine, I am tasting it as a bar manager. On one had I evaluating it by itself: for its own unique qualities and my personal likes and dislikes like every other wine taster. On the other hand, I also have to evaluate it by comparing it to wines already on my list for similarities and price point. If there is nothing outstanding about a wine and its the same price (or more) than a wine already on my wine list, what's the point of adding it unless I have a personal relationship with the vineyard?


HENRY ESTATE WINERY - http://www.henryestate.com/
Expect to see several bottles from Henry's our wine list within the next few weeks. We tried all three Pinot Noirs each with different qualities and tastes and found their lower end Pinot more than comparable to Hinman's Pinot with a similar price point. They also served their own rose blend that - in Marshall's words - we could serve all day. The semi-sweet rose had a bit of a sparkle to it similar to Silvan Ridge's famous Sparkling Muscat. Very easy drinking. Perfect for the summer months.


HILLCREST VINEYARD - www.hillcrestvineyard.com
This small vineyard is Oregon's oldest estate winery and home to many of the states first, including it's first Pinot Noir. It is also the founding member of "Oregon Artisan Family Wineries." These wineries take the boutique winery experience a step further with almost total owner/ family control including the making and harvesting of wine by the family as well as living on site. In this case, it was a husband and wife team. A very small vineyard, they only sell wine out of their tasting room, so we brought back a Pinot Noir and Zinfandel that interested us both. Its quite a boast to say you're drinking a wine from the oldest vines in the state. Loook for these two wines on our wine list with in the next few weeks as well.


MELROSE VINEYARDS - www.melrosevineyards.com

This vineyard was the most picturesque of the three vineyards we visited this day. Behind the renovated barn - now tasting room - you can see fields of vines totaling over 100 acres. They are in the process of planting another 100 acres which will make this one of the largest I have see in Oregon. This vineyard is investing much of its efforts in its wedding facilities including a huge banquet hall, full kitchens, landscaping and arbors. A delightful destination spot. This winery is one of only five vineyards who produce a Baco Noir - a lovely, heavy red wine.


All in all, a wonderful trip despite our initial disappointment. By the third vineyard, we were wined out. How a person could do five, I will never know! All the wines start blending together after three. Done wine tasting, we headed back to Eugene for dinner.

West Lane News Article

Here's an article printed in this week's edition of the West Lane News, our local paper. They did a great job on the gift shop.

Gift Shop Features Local Goods
By MATT NICHOLSON Of The News
January 1st, 2009



VENETA — Our Daily Bread, one of Veneta’s most unique restaurants, has added a gift shop to a menu of services that already includes weddings and catering. Opened in conjunction with last month’s Christmas Bazaar, the gift shop will both cater to tourists and provide a marketplace for local producers to sell their goods.

The gift shop, called Our Country Store, occupies a small corner of the lower floor of the restaurant’s renovated church. It is stocked with local and regional products including gift baskets, cheeses, baked goods and a wide selection of wines from vineyards all across the Southern Willamette Valley.

Some of the first goods to be carried in the shop came from the restaurant’s next-door neighbor, the Farmers’ Market, which is held on the lot adjacent to Our Daily Bread. Tabitha Eck, who co-owns the restaurant with her parents, says the restaurant’s proximity to the Farmers’ Market has created a valuable partnership between the restaurant and local producers.

“It’s a great connection to have the local growers on board,” says Eck.

Housed inside a renovated church, Our Daily Bread stands out from Veneta’s eateries in more ways than one, with its vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, wood furniture and warm character. The restaurant’s peaceful, aesthetic atmosphere has made it popular among locals for events ranging from lunchtime gatherings to weddings, but it’s also become something of a destination location for passing tourists. Eck says the restaurant’s unique structure is a big draw for tourists.

“Where have you ever seen a renovated church that has been turned into a restaurant?” says Eck.

Eck says that in the future, she would like to incorporate an art gallery into the gift shop to support local artists. Currently, Our Country Store features a few pieces from a local metal smith and a glassblower. But Eck says she would like to create an expansive gallery with rotating exhibits from local artists. She thinks an art gallery would be a good fit for the restaurant.

“It ties in perfectly with our desire for local (goods), and it ties in with our gift shop, as well,” she says.

Eck says the gift shop carries local and regional goods to support the Willamette Valley’s artisan producers. Eck says the new shop retails goods produced outside the valley only when they aren’t found locally, such as some varieties of red wine. But in keeping with the local emphasis of the restaurant, everything in the gift shop comes from Oregon.

“I try to only go out of the valley if there’s something we don’t have,” Eck says. “ I don’t have anything that’s not Oregon.”

Blizzards, Holidays, and Customers

YES, the recent snow showers and icy roads have had their effect on our business.

In general, the month of December is a slower month for us at the ODB as far as regular Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner anyway. Since we are not located anywhere near a mall or shopping center, regular traffic tends to head to Eugene for a combination of shopping and eating. Instead, we rely on the addition of holiday parties to pick up the slack in our business. Well, we had TWO of those private Christmas parties cancel in ONE DAY as a result of weather complications! Even while we understand that driving from Eugene and Junction City to Veneta could be treacherous, it's hard to feel good about the situation.

Listening to other restaurant, retail, and lodging people I found that we were all in similar circumstances. The weather kept everyone home. In tourist areas that relied on incoming hotel guests to frequent the local businesses, I saw a much greater effect on those business than we experienced. All along the Oregon Coast, small town restaurants and gift shops that relied on holiday tourist stays at the local inns and hotels were sadly disappointed by the numerous cancellation that came through due to weather. I know there are areas of the country that have snow on the ground for a good four months of the year, but that's not us. One inch and the school buses stop running. Five inches and we don't leave the house unless we have to. I bet states like Maine or Wisconsin laugh when they hear about the closures and effect of the weather on our local economy. What can I say? We're Oregonians!

Spread the Wealth - Eugene 08 and the ODB

What did you do the 10 days of Eugene ’08? Did you have tickets? Did you hang out in the festival area? Did you avoid downtown only to find it largely empty? My husband and I are in the latter group. Anticipating a huge pedestrian crowd, we were cringing the entire drive downtown knowing we’d have to fight our way in only after having to park a ½ mile a way. Much to our surprise, traffic – pedestrian and vehicle – was light. After walking the campus and deciding not to brave the festival crowds with two young children in tow, we went out to eat. The normally crowded 5th street restaurant was dead! In talking to our waitress, we heard that numbers were, in fact, down from normal during the trials and considerably lower than everyone anticipated for the Trials. The restaurant had increased staff for the Trials and instead had to send people home every night. We heard this same story repeated at yet another downtown restaurant later that week. What’s up with that?

Well, here’s the scoop . . .

Most of the tourists anticipated for the event (an estimated 10,000+) were just too well taken care of down on campus. Most of the athletes, families and such were housed on campus, were fed by the huge kitchen services there and even received food vouchers for the large food vendor set up inside the stadium. These people had no reason to leave the campus and a lot of incentives not to. Parking and transportation would be issues for all of them. A bit of a sorry thing for all of the restaurants and retail establishments anticipating that huge rush with no luck. Here at the ODB we noticed no change in numbers with a few Trial stragglers out and about in the country. I know Eugene is anticipating more competitions in the next few years; hopefully everyone in the area will be able figure out how to get all these people out and about so the rest of us can enjoy the spoils as well! Spread the Wealth next time why don't you?!