Longtime Roseburg Big Lots to Close Doors After 25 Years of Service to Community
11:28 PM · Nov 22, 2024After 25 years of serving the Roseburg community, the Big Lots store located at 1350 NE Stephens Street in Roseburg will permanently close its doors in January. The location was among the first Big Lots to open in Oregon and will be one of the last in the state to close. Store Manager Dawn Michelle reflected on the closure with a mix of gratitude and candor. "We are truly so thankful for all of our amazing customers over the years," she said. Michelle also noted that recent challenges, including increased shoplifting and security concerns, have taken a toll on both the business and store personnel. The store, which has been a go-to destination for housewares, furniture, and grocery items, has faced mounting pressures from retail crime and security issues that have affected both employee well-being and business operations. Despite these challenges, Michelle emphasized her appreciation for the dedicated associates and loyal customers who have been part of the store's long history in the community.
That's such a bummer.
Nov 22
Yeah, it really is. Operating a business is already difficult, but the West Coast states of WA, OR and CA have made it much, much harder with out of control shoplifting, drug addiction, homeless issues etc that get disproportionately dumped on local businesses to deal with.
Nov 22
Very true. Even more unfortunate.
Nov 22
I wish we could say its just a small town issue. But in reality we have been pretty lucky as its trickled down to our town. There is a talk in this town as of late, if the population will reverse as it becomes harder and harder to find wage earning positions. We owned businesses here. And this is not the same environment. If I had these same businesses customers could not afford us. And I think that is really a key. Housing and Rent are up sometimes 3x what they were precovid. How does a town of 22K support that? Sad to see them go.
Nov 23
Land use policies have made housing almost prohibitively expensive on the West Coast. We have the land to build enormous amounts of housing, we just make it almost impossible to do so profitably and bury developers. There are other things contributing to housing being too expensive, such as it being monetized and turned into an investment class for people to shelter their $ from inflation. That is not good. It's caused prices to be significantly higher than the utility value of homes which we really need to get back to. All that to say, West Coast States being soft on crime, soft on drugs, and very permissive on homelessness has caused those issues to explode and become outsized burdens on small communities especially. We are encouraging these problems to get worse and the consequences will increase until we change policy.
Nov 23