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Eagle Valley Building owners call it quits
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After 32 years running a variety of businesses ranging from dairy, furniture store and feed store in Richland to a building supply in Baker City, Glen and Cledith VandenBos announced plans to retire at the end of the year. On Monday, the VandenBoses launched a store closing sale and announced plans to close Eagle Valley Building Supply when they retire at the end of the year. The business is located at 2295 Windmill Road in Baker City. The VandenBoses moved to Baker County from the Eugene area in 1977 when they purchased a dairy. In 1988 after the dairy industry crashed nationwide, the VandenBoses sold their dairy during the federal dairy buyout program and bought Eagle Valley Furniture. They later purchased a Richland feed store and renamed it Eagle Valley Feed and Seed, which they operated while their sons Todd and Troy grew up and graduated from Pine-Eagle High School.“We've been in business in Baker County for over 30 years,” said Cledith VandenBos. “When we moved into Baker in 1999, Glen sold both Richland businesses, and we focused more on the lumber and building supplies.” “It’s been a wonderful business, and excellent business,” said Glen VandenBos. “Right now, things are a little slow, but that is not why we are closing. “We’ve been through tough times before. If I was 10 years younger, I would stick it out and work through it, but at this stage of life we don’t need to do that,” Glen said. “I don’t need any more money. We have all the money we need,” he said. “We will do fine.” He said they tried selling the business for awhile, but with the down economy, those efforts didn’t pan out, so they decided liquidate everythign and close up shop. With their financial future secure at this point, the VandenBoses said they decided now would be a good time to begin selling off the inventory, shelving, office furniture and fixtures, fork lifts, trucks and other equipment in preparation for closing the store at the end of the year. “Glen is 67 and I’m 65. We are both feeling good. We have things we want to do, and places we want to go,” Cledith said. “We figured with the economy down like it is, we could be in our 70s before things pick up.” She said they have enjoyed working together all these years, and now they want to spend some time traveling and doing other things together while they’re young enough and healthy enough to enjoy a retirement lifestyle. “We will have plenty of things to do,” he said. |
