Sweet Potato Bye?

Sweet Potato Pie has been selling clothes, hemp products and local glass art for the last 16 years. Now the future of the store is uncertain as the lease for that location ends on Oct. 31 and the neighboring business, Addictive Behaviors, expands into the space.

“I have a limited amount of time to make a very serious decision,” says Elizabeth Thompson, owner of the store.

Thompson says she started Sweet Potato Pie as a booth at the Saturday Market in 1994 with a lot of clothing she made herself. A few years later, funding from a local entrepreneur gave her the ability to move her stand to the corner store where it has stood for 16 years, the same age as her daughter, who was born shortly before the store’s opening.

Although Sweet Potato Pie has been a long-standing part of the Eugene community, it has not always been easy to keep going. When she’s not at the store, Thompson works as a manager at Goodwill, so she can “take care of myself but also pay my employees.”

In addition to her employees, many local small businesses have benefited from Sweet Potato Pie. “Eighty percent of my store is locally made. It’s why I’m not ready to give up. I’m not the only person who depends on that income,” Thompson says. “There’s a person behind every product in this business.”

The news that her lease was ending was sudden, but Thompson is hoping to find a new location before Halloween. Currently, she’s keeping her eyes fixed on the Whiteaker. “I want to go where it feels like a neighborhood,” and the Whit has that community feel she’s looking for. If she can’t find a new location, the only option is closing down the store.

“I feel really grateful I’ve had 16 years, I just hope I get another 16,” she says.

Find Sweet Potato Pie on its Facebook page at http://wkly.ws/1ju.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!