Several Central Oregon businesses up for sale
Recently, NewsChannel 21 has reported on a number of businesses going up for sale in Central Oregon.
On Thursday, we reported that the Tumalo Feed Co. had been sold.
And the for-sale list includes the Volcanic Theatre Pub, The Athletic Club of Bend and the Old Stone Church.
The list of businesses for sale includes plenty of restaurants as well.
One business owner NewsChannel 21 spoke with pointed to a 2013 report by Huffington Post that found Bend to have the third-highest number of restaurants per capita, wich means lots of competition for all restaurants in our area.
Los Agaves Mexican Grill in Sisters has been on the market for a year and half. Owner Jim Fernandez said Friday it takes a lot to succeed in the restaurant world.
“For example, chicken, beef, prawns, all the ingredients you use to build a plate, you have to make it three times more as a price,” Fernandez said. “You have to pay the rent, the electricity bills, all the utilities, employees, taxes, so everything goes as a plate. So in the end of the day, you’ll probably just make a couple dollars out of that plate.”
The owner said he’s in no rush to sell, and if he does, he plans to stay in Sisters and open a new restaurant.
He said the key to a successful business is to be unique.
Bend attorney Jeff Eager, who tracks business license numbers in the city, said it’s hard to say exactly why individual businesses are sold. Each owner may have a completely different set of reasons.
But he said Central Oregon’s economy has been good for the past few years, and some business owners may have decided to take advantage of that.
“Some business owners who may have been looking to get out and sell their business and get some money out of their business may have identified now as a good time to do that, because valuations may have been better than they would have,” Eager said. “So that could be a factor.”.
Eager also said business registrations in Bend were down for November, likely due to the holidays. Despite that, there were still 216 new businesses registered in Bend last month.
