City is pleased with retail planning consultant

By Terry Murry on Thursday, September 16th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories

HERMISTON – The Hermiston City Council held a work session earlier this week to discuss the work being done by Retail Strategies LLC. That firm was hired to help the city support existing businesses and attract new ones.

“Through the COVID-pandemic-induced recession and a lot of these changes and shifts to online retail, we haven’t really seen much in the way of major departures or closures,” Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said.

Retail Strategies works with existing businesses and commercial property owners. That work paid off when Fiesta Foods announced its closure a few years ago.

“Luckily having Retail Strategies on board, they were able to pretty quickly backfill that spot with Grocery Outlet,” he said. “Grocery Outlet took up a smaller footprint in that facility and they’ve been continuing to work with other potential retail folks to fill that slot.”