Business climate changes in Fallon with closures, new construction

During the past two months, Fallon has seen several highly visible businesses on Williams Avenue close their doors.

Starbucks coffee shop, Heidi's Restaurant and Arby's have closed and Winans-Yoder Furniture, four miles west of town on the Reno Highway, is going-out-of-business. After 44 years in business, Winans-Yoder Furniture is closing with a highly advertised sale.

The company was established in 1965 by Charles and Doris Winans as Winans Furniture and Hardware. They dropped the hardware from its name the following year, and in 1970 son Jim Winans and his brother-in-law Larry Yoder purchased the business from Jim's parents. In 1988, the company expanded with another furniture store in Minden and changed the name of its stores to Winans-Yoder Furniture.

Yoder emphasized the furniture store is going out of business and not facing bankruptcy.

“The business climate is not as good as it was,” he said. “Furnishings go by home sales.”

Not only did Winans-Yoder Furniture sell to the Fallon area, but it also serviced Hawthorne, Lovelock, Fernley, Carson City and Reno, all areas experiencing a slowdown in new home construction. Yoder pointed out that based on pervious experience, new home owners are more inclined to furnish their rooms with new furniture.

Yoder said he is not sure what the final day of operation will be for the store, but h said it will be determined by the liquidators.

As for his future plans, he said he doesn't have anything definite. Yoder also said he didn't know what future plans his son Justin has.

“Winans was a great community business that supported community projects. They will be missed not only in the reduction in sales tax collections but in the amount of support they have given the community,” said County Comptroller Alan Kalt.

Figures provided by Kalt show that home furniture and furnishings accounted for just 2.134 percent of the county's total taxable sales in fiscal year 2009 – a slide from 4.756 percent that category provided in fiscal year 2002. Sales of home furniture and furnishings in Churchill County topped $11.48 million in 2006, but the figures show sales declined dramatically in 2007 – 38.6 percent – and remained low in 2008 and 2009.

The stand-alone Starbucks coffee shop, located at 1870 W. Williams Ave., was shuttered in mid-September and the building now stands empty after less than two years in business. Starbucks announced in July 2008 that it was closing more than 600 U.S. company-operated stores. In January 2009, it announced further plans to close 300 more under-performing stores – approximately 200 in the U.S. and 100 in other countries. According to a Starbucks spokesperson, employees at the U.S. stores were notified early in the year of the impending closures.

The Starbucks kiosk inside Safeway grocery store remains open, but the company closed one store in Sparks and 13 in the Las Vegas area.

Arby's restaurant at 1110 W. Williams Ave. closed abruptly Oct. 20, the same day the signs were removed from the building and street. Unsubstantiated rumors hold that employees learned the restaurant closed when they arrived for work that day.

The restaurant's property owner, Charlie Frey, is also left wondering what the company's plans are. He said he spoke briefly with a restaurant manager from Reno but received no information, and an e-mail he sent to the franchiser from Las Vegas has gone unanswered.

E-mail and voice mail messages left with Arby's corporate contacts seeking further information were not returned.

Heidi's Restaurant, located inside the Bonanza Casino, also closed its doors in mid-September, but the space won't be vacant for very long. John Higgins, former operations manager for Northern Nevada Heidi's restaurants, said he's left the Heidi's company and will open a new restaurant in the former Fallon Heidi's location.

“Business wasn't as good as it had been in the past few years,” Higgins said of the Heidi's restaurant. “The recession has hit a variety of businesses in many different ways. It was very sad to have to close it down, and hopefully we can give people a better option.”

Higgins plans to open a Western-themed steakhouse called J.D. Slingers offering affordable steaks and upscale, homemade hamburgers. When Heidi's revamped its menu, Higgins noted the most popular items were hamburgers and steaks. That led him to believe the local customer base would enjoy a menu designed around those offerings.

“The main thing I intend to do is have an affordable price,” Higgins said, adding he plans for steaks to cost in the range of $9 to $15 and the restaurant will cut its own steaks.

City of Fallon Clerk/Treasurer Gary Cordes theorized that with the loss of retail food and beverage outlets other retailers would absorb that business and reinvent themselves. He noted that storefront vacancies would mean lost rental income to landlords, but he did not foresee major losses of tax revenue to the city.

Kalt said it is unfortunate that the slowdown in commercial, industrial and residential growth – combined with increased unemployment – has impacted support businesses in the county.

“The challenge is for the community to support local businesses,” Kalt said.

Almost directly across the street from the former Heidi's location, residents will notice large equipment busy moving dirt and rock in preparation for construction. A new Maverik gas station and convenience store is planned for the site.

The company's Web site confirms the new Fallon location as well as one in Carson City. A sign on USA Parkway in Storey County states a Maverik station will be built across the street from the Golden Gate Auto and Truck Stop, however, Maverik's Web site does not mention that site.

Maverik recently celebrated the opening of its 200th store and is located in seven Western states, usually along major interstates. The family-owned chain, now operated by the third-generation of the Call family, was founded in 1928 and employs more than 3,000 people.

“We have an aggressive growth plan to reach 300 stores and $3 billion in revenue in the next few years,” Maverik Spokesperson Brad Call stated in a recent press release