2019 will be a good year for businesses

By: 
Steve Lyon
Eye On Weiser
Weiser had a net gain of business in 2018 by my calculations with a popular new restaurant  and a couple of other new businesses.
 There is no crystal ball to consult on the future, but there will be lots happening in the next year. Let’s hope 2019 is good for local businesses. 
 The new 50,000 square foot Ridley’s store will be a big deal when it opens this summer. It will be much more than just a grocery store.
 With a new hardware section, big deli and bakery, along with indoor and outdoor seating, it will be a hub of retail activity.
 The expectation is that the area around the new store will develop as traffic increases. There are some vacant parcels with Highway 95 frontage that look especially appealing for development. 
 The area is also the proposed site for a new motel. A feasibility study suggested a 47-room property with adjacent retail and/or restaurant pad could be viable new businesses.
 People I have talked to believe Ridley’s will drive more business for Bi-Mart rather than directly compete. The store will also slow the economic leakage to Ontario. It’s a good thing to keep the spending and tax dollars local.
 There will be some good things happening in the downtown core as well.
 The owner of the old bank on the corner of Idaho and State streets and contractors are back at work remodeling the building. 
 The owner is a home builder in Meridian and will open some nice retail and office space in the near future.
 The county’s purchase of the former Mexican restaurant is good for downtown. It brings traffic into the city core area and occupies a formerly vacant building. 
 The last I heard the current temporary location for Ridley’s in the old Kings building will become future office space for Weiser Memorial Hospital once remodeling is done. 
 People that work in offices in the downtown area will support the restaurants and the coffee shops and other businesses.
• • •
 The Idaho Potato Commission spends a lot on marketing and does a good job keeping its Grown in Idaho brand out there in front of consumers.
 You never see much marketing by the Idaho-Oregon Onion Commission for local onions, despite competition from onion growers in Washington state.
 An email I received the other day from the potato folks offered some trivia that was interesting. 
 Americans eat 111 pounds of potatoes every year, the commission said. That number seems a bit high for me. When I do eat potatoes, I usually buy the small red ones. I haven’t had a big Idaho baker smothered in sour cream for some time.
 Also, much to the dismay of the Idaho Potato Commission, I have developed a fondness for garnet yams. They are a delicious complement to many meals.
 If I do eat 111 pounds of potatoes annually, as the potato commission says, a good 85 pounds of that is in the form of potato chips.
 Steve Lyon is the editor of the Weiser Signal American. Contact him at scoop@signalamerican.com

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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