Former Start-up Lessons to Live By For Downtown Business
By Anne Scheck
There’s a corner downtown where, in less than a minute, you can grab some hot wings, toss in a tube of toothpaste, add a can of vegetables and start to gas-up your car. It's Jimmy'Z, a place local’s call Indy’s one-stop shop – possibly the closest thing to a mercantile of the city’s past.
“I get that a lot," said Jim Newbeck, the owner. The gas-and-store operation now has a new Western-style, two-story building, drawing comparisons to an old-time general store.
Within a four-block downtown area, scores of businesses have closed in Independence over the past several years – many after very promising starts. Why has Mr. Newbeck shown such stability? After years of seven-day-a-week toil, he credits success to two factors: Long hours of work and tight attention to customer preferences. For instance, the jalapeno peppers that fly off the shelves aren't really what he likes to eat. But hungry customers do.
Like many businesses that appear to be thriving as 2019 rolls in, Mr. Newbeck never stops exploring ways to branch out. When The Independent took a look at downtown businesses this past year, those that seemed to be increasingly robust after at least two years have some common characteristics. Growing revenue streams is one; Non-stop effort is another.
Multiple revenue streams helped Katie Schaub survive and flourish -- and also sometimes suffer complete energy depletion as a side effect. Ms. Schaub owns The Ovenbird Bakery.
During one week this past winter season, for example, she taught a class on how to bake apple turnovers, provided the annual holiday lunch for the Rotary Club and went into a cake-baking, pastry-making, cookie-producing frenzy as she tried to keep up with the demand at the shop and by customers who were hosting parties and giving edible gifts.
"You have to really love it and want it," she said. And what about the dream of every business owner to be a boss? "Well, you work for everyone who walks in the door," said Ms. Schaub, with a laugh.
At Brew Coffee and Taphouse next door, Mitch Teal’s innovation quite literally is reflected in the shop’s very name. How many coffee houses double as a corner pub? None but his in Polk County. "We thought it was a new idea," said Mr. Teal, who co-owns Brew Coffee and Taphouse with his wife Cathy.
As an established business duo in Salem -- the couple owns tanning salons there -- Mr. Teal felt sure they were right when they identified Independence as an "up and coming community." Within the first year, the coffee-shop-plus-tavern proved them right, operating "in the black," he said. In fact, profits from coffee "edge out the beer by just a tad," he said.
Mr. Teal underscores an observation made by Mr. Newbeck: Customers need to be provided what they want. "We had this idea we were going to sell popcorn and trail mix," Mr. Teal recalled. That idea soon got axed. "Well, what I thought was best just wouldn't work," he said. People wanted food -- good food. "So now we buy from other downtown businesses -- the Naughty Noodle, the Ovenbird Bakery -- and that's now about 25% of our business," he said.
The multiple offerings -- a great cup of mocha, a craft beer, oven-fresh pasta, cheesecake – simply meet a consumer desire at his establishment, he pointed out. “We will very soon be offering gourmet cupcakes, cake and pie from local suppliers using no artificial food coloring and locally-sourced ingredients,” he said.
The work is “exhausting,” Mr. Teal agreed. But his wife shoulders a lot of the paperwork, which is her forte. In contrast, "I seem to be the networker," he said. That's in evidence during meetings of The Independence Downtown Association, where he is a regular attendee. Asked why he is always in a chair there when other merchants may be absent from the meeting, Mr. Teal explained that he’s afraid he’ll "miss something" by not showing up. This seems to be a familiar refrain by successful business owners in town.
Mr. Newbeck concurred that complacency can hurt the bottom line.
Like Mr. Teal, his business benefits from repeat customers. Jimmy'Z has "regulars" who come in several times a week, including a few who dash in for biscuits-and-gravy to start their day, noted Jasmin Shellenbarger, who works at the store on college vacations. She's the daughter of Mr. Newbeck. Like her sister, Nicole Newbeck, who always seems to be there, they cultivate business the old-fashioned way -- with a cheery, service-oriented approach.
One advantage for some of the “regulars” at Jimmy’Z -- including workers at a local construction company – is the ability to run a monthly gas tab. Employees sign in, fill the tank, and go. The account is settled at the end of the month, saving time and hassle since the bill is paid in one fell swoop every few weeks, Ms. Shellenbarger noted.
Down the street, at Same As It Never Was, Lisa Cox’s vintage-business model is somewhat similar to Mr. Newbeck’s. In fact, when asked about Ms. Cox’s mid-downtown store, Mr. Newbeck observed that "she really seems to know what she is doing."
At her sprawling store, Ms. Cox offers everything from greeting cards made by a local teenage photographer to hand-made candles by a mid-valley artisan. She also picks up high-quality furniture that’s in need of a facelift and restores it.
When Ms. Cox moved to the middle of Main Street's most commercial block, she got more than the needed square footage. She got the space to offer some craft classes, such as sign painting. "I feel like everything we wanted to do, we can pursue now," she said.
With the increased work area, she can customize almost any item in the store, she said. One example is the bookcase by her counter. A man wanted one just like it for his daughter's room, but the family occupied a home reminiscent of an old-style farmhouse. And the dark wood didn't suit it.
So she painted the piece a subtle golden white, then "distressed it," she explained. Now slight slivers of satin-brown wood peek through a cover of buttery cream. Ms. Cox stressed that she depends on the local crafting community – from a macramé weaver to a frame-maker – to keep her stocked in one-of-a-kind items, which she sells on consignment.
Mr. Newbeck, a former carpenter, is reminded daily of how far he’s come, just by looking across Monmouth Avenue. It was just over a dozen years ago that he was a construction worker on the still-unfinished Independence Station, just across the street.
"I'd go over to buy something on a break," he recalled of his early visits to the place he now owns. "And I would think 'Well, this is so great to be working so close to home.' "
In fact, he began to dread the thought of returning to long commutes for job sites, like Portland. And he'd gotten to know the owner of the gas station, who seemed amenable to selling the place.
He put everything he had into the purchase -- including taking out a second mortgage on his home. In those early days, he'd stand behind the cash register, run out to pump gas and then try to get paperwork done.
Across from the gas pumps, the uncompleted Independence Station still stands. And since the days he hoisted a hammer there, the little store where Mr. Newbeck spent his break time has changed a lot -- and continues to be his way of life.
There’s a corner downtown where, in less than a minute, you can grab some hot wings, toss in a tube of toothpaste, add a can of vegetables and start to gas-up your car. It's Jimmy'Z, a place local’s call Indy’s one-stop shop – possibly the closest thing to a mercantile of the city’s past.
“I get that a lot," said Jim Newbeck, the owner. The gas-and-store operation now has a new Western-style, two-story building, drawing comparisons to an old-time general store.
Within a four-block downtown area, scores of businesses have closed in Independence over the past several years – many after very promising starts. Why has Mr. Newbeck shown such stability? After years of seven-day-a-week toil, he credits success to two factors: Long hours of work and tight attention to customer preferences. For instance, the jalapeno peppers that fly off the shelves aren't really what he likes to eat. But hungry customers do.
Like many businesses that appear to be thriving as 2019 rolls in, Mr. Newbeck never stops exploring ways to branch out. When The Independent took a look at downtown businesses this past year, those that seemed to be increasingly robust after at least two years have some common characteristics. Growing revenue streams is one; Non-stop effort is another.
Multiple revenue streams helped Katie Schaub survive and flourish -- and also sometimes suffer complete energy depletion as a side effect. Ms. Schaub owns The Ovenbird Bakery.
During one week this past winter season, for example, she taught a class on how to bake apple turnovers, provided the annual holiday lunch for the Rotary Club and went into a cake-baking, pastry-making, cookie-producing frenzy as she tried to keep up with the demand at the shop and by customers who were hosting parties and giving edible gifts.
"You have to really love it and want it," she said. And what about the dream of every business owner to be a boss? "Well, you work for everyone who walks in the door," said Ms. Schaub, with a laugh.
At Brew Coffee and Taphouse next door, Mitch Teal’s innovation quite literally is reflected in the shop’s very name. How many coffee houses double as a corner pub? None but his in Polk County. "We thought it was a new idea," said Mr. Teal, who co-owns Brew Coffee and Taphouse with his wife Cathy.
As an established business duo in Salem -- the couple owns tanning salons there -- Mr. Teal felt sure they were right when they identified Independence as an "up and coming community." Within the first year, the coffee-shop-plus-tavern proved them right, operating "in the black," he said. In fact, profits from coffee "edge out the beer by just a tad," he said.
Mr. Teal underscores an observation made by Mr. Newbeck: Customers need to be provided what they want. "We had this idea we were going to sell popcorn and trail mix," Mr. Teal recalled. That idea soon got axed. "Well, what I thought was best just wouldn't work," he said. People wanted food -- good food. "So now we buy from other downtown businesses -- the Naughty Noodle, the Ovenbird Bakery -- and that's now about 25% of our business," he said.
The multiple offerings -- a great cup of mocha, a craft beer, oven-fresh pasta, cheesecake – simply meet a consumer desire at his establishment, he pointed out. “We will very soon be offering gourmet cupcakes, cake and pie from local suppliers using no artificial food coloring and locally-sourced ingredients,” he said.
The work is “exhausting,” Mr. Teal agreed. But his wife shoulders a lot of the paperwork, which is her forte. In contrast, "I seem to be the networker," he said. That's in evidence during meetings of The Independence Downtown Association, where he is a regular attendee. Asked why he is always in a chair there when other merchants may be absent from the meeting, Mr. Teal explained that he’s afraid he’ll "miss something" by not showing up. This seems to be a familiar refrain by successful business owners in town.
Mr. Newbeck concurred that complacency can hurt the bottom line.
Like Mr. Teal, his business benefits from repeat customers. Jimmy'Z has "regulars" who come in several times a week, including a few who dash in for biscuits-and-gravy to start their day, noted Jasmin Shellenbarger, who works at the store on college vacations. She's the daughter of Mr. Newbeck. Like her sister, Nicole Newbeck, who always seems to be there, they cultivate business the old-fashioned way -- with a cheery, service-oriented approach.
One advantage for some of the “regulars” at Jimmy’Z -- including workers at a local construction company – is the ability to run a monthly gas tab. Employees sign in, fill the tank, and go. The account is settled at the end of the month, saving time and hassle since the bill is paid in one fell swoop every few weeks, Ms. Shellenbarger noted.
Down the street, at Same As It Never Was, Lisa Cox’s vintage-business model is somewhat similar to Mr. Newbeck’s. In fact, when asked about Ms. Cox’s mid-downtown store, Mr. Newbeck observed that "she really seems to know what she is doing."
At her sprawling store, Ms. Cox offers everything from greeting cards made by a local teenage photographer to hand-made candles by a mid-valley artisan. She also picks up high-quality furniture that’s in need of a facelift and restores it.
When Ms. Cox moved to the middle of Main Street's most commercial block, she got more than the needed square footage. She got the space to offer some craft classes, such as sign painting. "I feel like everything we wanted to do, we can pursue now," she said.
With the increased work area, she can customize almost any item in the store, she said. One example is the bookcase by her counter. A man wanted one just like it for his daughter's room, but the family occupied a home reminiscent of an old-style farmhouse. And the dark wood didn't suit it.
So she painted the piece a subtle golden white, then "distressed it," she explained. Now slight slivers of satin-brown wood peek through a cover of buttery cream. Ms. Cox stressed that she depends on the local crafting community – from a macramé weaver to a frame-maker – to keep her stocked in one-of-a-kind items, which she sells on consignment.
Mr. Newbeck, a former carpenter, is reminded daily of how far he’s come, just by looking across Monmouth Avenue. It was just over a dozen years ago that he was a construction worker on the still-unfinished Independence Station, just across the street.
"I'd go over to buy something on a break," he recalled of his early visits to the place he now owns. "And I would think 'Well, this is so great to be working so close to home.' "
In fact, he began to dread the thought of returning to long commutes for job sites, like Portland. And he'd gotten to know the owner of the gas station, who seemed amenable to selling the place.
He put everything he had into the purchase -- including taking out a second mortgage on his home. In those early days, he'd stand behind the cash register, run out to pump gas and then try to get paperwork done.
Across from the gas pumps, the uncompleted Independence Station still stands. And since the days he hoisted a hammer there, the little store where Mr. Newbeck spent his break time has changed a lot -- and continues to be his way of life.
The CIVICS LESSON: Free Help is Hard to Come By These Days
As 2019 unfolds, the City of Independence is faced with a growing shortage -- and this time it's not about money. It's human capital. Volunteers have been ticking down, right along with the inch count of autumn rainfall. Loss of volunteers is a common municipal problem, but it has been far less so in Oregon than in many other states. A federal report conducted five years ago, Volunteering in America, showed Oregon -- behind Utah and Minnesota -- is among the top three states for civic engagement. However, Oregon has been following the same downward trend, though less dramatically -- and Independence is no exception. City events, like summer festivals, rely on citizen help. So do the commissions and advisory boards that run them. The lack of that means the city is faced with paying more for police and security personnel to staff these venues, according to Juventino Banuelos, an officer in the Independence Police Department who presented the declines at a city council meeting this past year.
The INDY HOP: Casting Actor For Mystery Dinner is a Scream
As Independence's second annual mystery dinner approaches this month, on Jan. 12, those affiliated with the production are hoping that whoever plays the female lead -- and that person had yet to be announced at press time -- will be able to master a "really good scream." It's essential to the play. But what constitutes a good theatrical scream? For this, we turned to a known expert, Fire Chief Ben Stange, a trained paramedic who has rushed to the site of many emergencies, and, perhaps more importantly, is the father of three relatively young children -- something that develops a keen sense of what wailing can sound like, as any parent knows. Also, it's been said that a scream really is the human equivalent of a firetruck siren. So Chief Stange's opinion is of utmost and unquestionable accuracy. Here it is: For a scream to be believable, it should convey terror by being both "summoning" and "alarming" to any audience member who hears it, he advised. To be truly "blood-curdling," the scream needs to be high-pitched and "rest on one note," Chief Stange added. It also should be very loud and fairly long-lasting. However, no actress short of an opera star can sustain a scream for more than a few seconds, he said. "You really cannot go for very long without taking a breath due to the rush of adrenaline," he explained.
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