The four empty storefronts on East 13th Avenue leading into campus could give the impression that the block of businesses is faltering. But locals – business owners and the block police officer – say the area’s staying steady.
“They’re not holes,” said Eugene police officer Randy Ellis, who has worked in the area for 38 years.
Ellis said Espresso Roma is trying to negotiate through a remodel of the space just west of it, which used to be a dry cleaner. Where West Moon Trading Co. used to sell clothes, Qdoba Mexican Grill will be selling nachos and tacos. Where Origin 79 and Lazar’s Campus used to sell clothes and miscellaneous items, a tattoo parlor and a tanning salon have offered to lease the property.
For as long as he can recall, Ellis said the block has been a mix of retail stores and restaurants.
“For the last 15 years, most of the stuff down here has been pretty stable,” he said. “Businesses still want to be here.”
The rents are high, he said, and are comparable to those at Oakway Center, which is located north of the University on Coburg Road.
“If you own your building, that’s one thing, but if you’re paying big rent on top of that, it makes it hard to run your business,” Ellis said.
For the most part, Ellis said, the businesses are locally and individually owned.
“A lot of them actually own the buildings, not just the businesses,” he said. “That’s what Eugene is: a group of small, individually, family-owned businesses who are making enough to get by.”
Starbucks and Quiznos are corporate stores, and although Roma is too, people “think they’re patronizing locally,” because “it’s got the Eugene feel,” Ellis said.
The challenges to the block businesses lie east, Ellis said. When the EMU food court was expanded, students didn’t have to walk the extra 1,000 feet to cross Kincaid Street, and Ellis said this probably slowed East 13th’s foot traffic. Better bus transportation has allowed students who live in the northeast Eugene apartment complexes like Duck’s Village to go home for lunch instead of staying on campus all day. Also, locals can take the bus to different shopping areas around the city, instead of having to shop near the University.
Freshmen can eat in the dorms and “every time the U of O puts up a new building, it puts in food,” Ellis said.
To compound that, much of the recent University expansion like the School of Law and the Lorry Lokey Laboratories building has been on the east side of campus.
“The only time this place is a destination is on the weekends for the Glenwood,” a popular spot for breakfast, Ellis said.
While many businesses have come and gone, some have lasted long enough to become institutions.
In the 1960s when Pete Peterson opened the Red Rooster Barber Shop, the area had many more retail stores than it does today. The men’s stores sold sport coats and v-neck sweaters, Peterson said, and “once the hippie era hit in the 1970s,” those formal stores left.
Why did the Red Rooster last?
“Because of our haircuts,” Peterson said.
When Eugene residents started growing their hair long, Peterson stayed in business by welcoming those customers.
“The long-haired fellas had no problem getting their haircuts,” Peterson said. “They used to watch us cut long hair,” he said, gesturing to the store’s picture windows that look out onto the south side of the street. “They knew we’d do what they want.”
“Many, many, many years ago,” Peterson said (he couldn’t say exactly when) he punched some numbers into a calculator and found out that he’d given about 120,000 haircuts.
“I figure I could have done every man, woman and child in Lane County,” he said.
Peterson said he has a saying that has guided his business since it opened: “Make friends out of your customers, not customers out of your friends.”
He said he has cut the hair of the past five University presidents. He cut Steve Prefontaine’s. He cut Representative Peter DeFazio’s hair back when he was running for county commissioner and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden’s when he was in law school.
After customer Brian Bell paid his $15, he was walking toward the door when he stopped and turned to Peterson. There’s good fishing on the Deschutes River, Bell told him.
“I’ve been hearing good stories on the McKenzie,” said Peterson.
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