The Bellingham Herald

Whatcom County retail sales grew at a faster rate for the year than the state average, according to a new report.

Taxable retail sales in Whatcom County totaled $3.03 billion in 2011, up 4.1 percent compared to 2010. Retail trade, which focuses on items sold in stores, totaled $1.5 billion, a 7.3 percent increase over the previous year.

Across the state, taxable retail sales increased 3 percent to $103.8 billion in calendar year 2011, according to the Washington State Department of Revenue.

Retail trade increased 3.5 percent over 2010 to $47.9 billion.

Among major industries across the state, construction was down 1.7 percent but still much better than the 12 percent decline in 2010.  New and used auto sales were up 8.3 percent compared to a 2.8 percent gain in 2010. Accommodations and food services rose 5.1 percent, apparel and accessories increased 5.5 percent, and sales of building materials, garden equipment and supplies declined 0.3 percent.

Here’s a list of the latest Bellingham business registrations (April 17-23). Most of these registrations are companies entering this market, but some are companies that have changed location/ownership.

Michelle Johnson Photography, 4242 Wintergreen Cir #364, Bellingham

In-Your-Home Tutoring, Academic Partners LLC, 3411 Crestline Place, Bellingham

Bremen Contractors LLC, 700 Highland Drive, Bellingham

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Here’s a (link) to a press release about Portland-based Miller Paints acquiring 10 Kelly-Moore Paints’ stores in the Puget Sound area. It was unclear in the news release which stores are being acquired, but it did mention one of the stores in Kent will close as it merges with a nearby Miller Paints store. The deal is expected to close on Monday, April 30.

Kelly Moore has a store 345 Ohio St. in Bellingham.

Here are some interesting items I found while looking at Bellingham building permits:

Issued permits:

– At 202 E. Holly St., units 206-209, 309-312, convert tenant spaces to eight apartments.

Permit applications filed (but not yet approved):

– At 4176 Meridian St. (in the former Barron Heating building, across street from Bellingham Athletic Club), plans were submitted to convert it to a family entertainment center called Captain Jack Jr’s.

– At 103 E. Stuart Road (near Walmart), an application was submitted to convert a tax preparation office into a small restaurant called Cupcakes Like it Sweet.

– At 1707 N. State St., plans were submitted to convert a former nightclub (Hot Shotz) into a cafe and indoor kids play area called Family Clubhouse Cafe.

Here’s the tally on cell phones/documents recycled at the recent Secure Your ID event (news release from the Better Business Bureau):

HUNDREDS TURN OUT FOR BBB’S SECURE YOUR ID DAY

DuPont, Wash. – April 25, 2012 – In conjunction with Better Business Bureau’s national effort to proactively combat identity theft, BBB serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington offered four Secure Your ID Day locations to help local consumers shred 38,948 pounds—more than 19 tons—of documents and recycle 481 cellular phones on April 21, 2012.

Anchorage, Alaska

162 cars

5,400 pounds

9 cellular phones

Beaverton, Ore.

503 cars

21,000 pounds

96 cellular phones

Bellingham, Wash.

235 cars

7,148 pounds

47 cellular phones

DuPont, Wash.

124 cars

5,400 pounds

329 cellular phones

Recycle Revolution estimates that the recycled shreddings will save 331 trees, 136,318 gallons of water, and nearly 59 cubic feet of landfill space.

The next Secure Your ID Day will take place on Oct. 20, 2012. For shred event partnership opportunities, or to suggest a future location, contact BBB at events@thebbb.org or call 206-676-4187.

I apologize that the BizBlog posts have been a little sparse in recent days, it’s been a busy time on this beat. I’ll try to do a bit of catching up, starting with an interesting look at the Washington wine industry.

The most recent data ranks Whatcom County ninth in production, with 73,598 gallons. Benton County and Grant County are the main wine producers in Washington, tallying 11 million and 6 million gallons respectively during the same period (This paragraph was updated).

Here’s the press release from the Washington state wine commission:

The Washington State Wine Commission today announced the results of a new economic impact study of the Washington State wine industry – the most comprehensive such report ever produced – that values the industry at $8.6 billion annually in Washington State and $14.9 billion annually in the US.

These findings represent a substantial increase from a similar study conducted in 2007 that valued the industry at $3 billion in-state and $4.7 billion nationally.

Since 2005, the number of licensed wineries in Washington State has more than doubled from 360 to now well over 700. The state has also added more than 13,000 acres of vineyards during this time – from just over 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) in 2005 to more than 43,000 acres (17,000 hectares) today.

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Whatcom County’s unemployment rate took a slight dip in March, according to a new report from the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Last month the unemployment rate locally was 8.1 percent, down from a revised rate of 8.3 percent in February. A year ago, Whatcom’s unemployment rate was 9.2 percent.

The number of Whatcom County residents actively looking for work was 8,850, down from 8,930 in February. A year earlier, 9,870 people were actively looking for work locally.

More jobs were added to the local workforce, according to report. Last month 99,920 people had jobs in Whatcom County, up 1,540 compared to February. Nonfarm employment increased by 1,300 for the same period.

Construction was one of the industries that posted the biggest jump between February and March. Last month 6,500 people were estimated to be employed in construction, up 700 from the previous month.

Whatcom’s March unemployment remained lower than most nearby counties, including Skagit (10.2 percent unemployment rate), Snohomish (8.4 percent) and San Juan (8.5 percent). The Washington county with the highest unemployment rate last month was Ferry (15 percent), while the lowest was Whitman (6.9 percent).

A few different stories are out today about gas prices peaking and starting to go down Here’s a (link) to a story from The Associated Press. Here’s an update about Bellingham prices:

The average price for a gallon of gas in the Bellingham metro area was $4.24 on Friday, April 20, down a penny from a week ago, according to the AAA Washington Fuel Gauge Report.

Bellingham’s price is up 8 cents compared to a month ago and up 20 cents from a year ago. The average price for a gallon of diesel in Bellingham was $4.55 on April 12, down four cents from a week ago.

Bellingham’s average price remains the highest among Washington metro areas. The next highest is Seattle at $4.15 a gallon. The least expensive is in Spokane, at $3.95 a gallon.

Here’s one item going into Sunday’s Retail Tip Sheet column…

After three years in a cramped space on Railroad Avenue, Little Tiger Toys is ready to move into a bigger space.

The toy store is moving to 112 Grand Ave., near Henderson Books. The store will close its Railroad Avenue space on Sunday, April 29 and make the move, opening in the 2,000-square-foot space on Tuesday, May 1. Once in the new space, store hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.

The bigger space will allow the store to stock more toys while also providing more space for customers to try out some of the toys, said Ocean Christensen, assistant manager at the store.

Once the toy store has vacated its spot at 1417 Railroad Ave., Casa Que Pasa plans to expand its restaurant into the space, adding more seating, Christensen said.

Little Tiger Toys’ website and phone number will remain the same during this transition. For details, call 360-734-0607 or visit littletigertoys.com.

An artist rendering from Yorkston on what the completed building will look like.

BELLINGHAM – An Alabama neighborhood gas station is about to begin a major remodel.

The Yorky’s Market gas station at 2418 Alabama St. will close on Monday, April 23 and remained closed for what will be a four or five month remodel, said Matt Yorkston of Yorkston Oil. The car wash facility and the convenience store will be demolished, making way for a two-story, 3,800-square-foot building that will include an expanded store as well as some office space.

The gas tanks will be dug up and the ground cleaned before it’s replaced with new tanks and dispensers.

The new convenience store will have more grocery items and feature a walk-in cooler. It will also be home to a postal contract station, offering a limited number of mailboxes and will be similar to the Fairhaven postal contract station.

Yorkston said they also plan to have a quick serve restaurant in the building.