Retail
Talking Points: Rogers Weed
Rogers Weed, a Wharton MBA and former Microsoft vicepresident, was doing volunteer work for the nonprofit Climate Solutions whenthe governor appointed him director of the state Commerce Department (formerlythe Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development) with a mandate tomaintain a laser focus on keeping jobs in the state. On Moving to the Public Sector:…
Talking Points: Pete Rose
In spite of a sharp downturn in world trade, CEO Pete Rosehas managed his Seattle-based freight and logistics company to avoid layoffsand long-term debt, and to accumulate $800 million in cash. On his early days: In 1981, my partner and I were drinkingbeer in Hong Kong. We drew plans for a business on a cocktail…
Value Meals
Taking Care Of Business Holding Suppliers to the Fire: Restaurants takeadvantage of market opportunities to reduce the cost of supplies and pass thosesavings on to customers. Rays Boathouse, for example, is using a market glutof frozen fish to fill its larder with fish suitable for smoking. More bang for the buck: By nixing items that…
Is Dining Out?
The white tablecloths glow and the candles flicker, but themaitre d is liable to be clicking his heels by the front door, wondering wherethe diners are. At the pub around the corner or at the sandwich shop downthe road, perhaps. Washingtons restaurant business has taken a beating thisyear. The industrythe states largest employershed nearly 7,000…
Tully’s Chairman Steps Down
Tom O’Keefe, the chairman and founder of Tully’s Coffee Corp., announced his retirement today. He’ll step down by June 30, and the company’s board will in that time select a replacement. The company will continue to be led by President and CEO Carl Pennington. O’Keefe started the company with a single store in Kent in…
Resale Value
Ken Alterman had no clue that his former assistant from aprevious job purchased her clothing at a Value Village thrift store until hetook over as chief executive officer of the chain’s parent company, Savers Inc. “I always wondered where you got all those outfits because Iknew how much I was paying you,” he recalls quipping…
Sibling Rivalry
Not so very long ago, two local developers battled to win the hand of one very high-end retailer. The skirmish commenced around a handful of downtown Bellevue blocks. On one side: Bellevue’s native son, Kemper Freeman Jr., who turned his father’s original 1946 open-air collection of 16 stores into a nearly 200-shop powerhouse mall, Bellevue…
Milking Chocolate
The short and sweet version ofTheo Chocolate Inc.’s story goes like this: While working with cocoa farmers inCentral America and West Africa, company founder and CEO Joe Whinney says hewitnessed horrible social and environmental degradation by “BigChocolate,” the big companies that hold much of the world market. He sought to ensure that farmers received a…
The Third Wave
Creatinga local coffee brand with high-quality roasts is crucial for independent coffeeretailers, says David Morris, CEO of Sumner’s Dillanos Coffee Roasters. Morrisdecided to enter the world of roasting after quickly moving beyond the Buckleyespresso cart he opened in 1992. Now, he creates branded “coffee experiences,”which include roasts ranked in the top three nationally by Roast…
In the Shadow of Starbucks
Buildingsuccess in the coffee shop industry is about brewing a community environment.It’s one of the qualities of Italian coffeehouses that inspired Howard Schulzto build Starbucks into a global brand, a brand that many analysts say has cometo symbolize the chain store more than the corner store. Wes Herman, owner ofThe Woods Coffee Co. in Whatcom…
Trading Spaces
In the stormy fall of 2009, during the worst downturn since the Great Depression, 6,900 electrical contractors arrived at Seattle’s convention center to find a brilliant September sun. The sun wasn’t the only surprise. “It was a little crazy, considering the economy, but we did great,” says Beth Ellis, the group’s executive director for conventions….
Travel as if You Live There
When Jen Hough arrived on business in cities like Houston, Los Angeles and Portland, she often found herself in a new and strange city where she didn’t know the local arts and entertainment scene, let alone where she, as an out lesbian, could go and feel comfortable. Her solution: a website where other lesbian, gay,…
Talking Points: Elson Floyd
Since becoming president of Washington State University in 2007, Elson Floyd has shaken things up, cutting low-priority programs while focusing on strategy at the four-campus, 25,000-student university, bringing it into alignment with Washington state’s changing educational and economic needs. Early Years: I’m the oldest of four boys in my family. I grew up in North…