Biz Beat 12-26-2013

Tsunami Books at Willamette and 25th is organizing a fundraising day and event Saturday, Dec. 28, in support of Lane Arts Council and Friends of Civic Stadium. Customers are asked to “refrain from the usual discounts on new books, special orders, etc., on this day only,” says owner Scott Landfield. Instead, 20 percent of  sales will be split between the two nonprofits. The day’s events will include free live music from 5 to 8 pm by Nancy Wood, Paul Safar, Sean Brennan and Mike Hatgis. Call 345-8986 or find Tsunami on Facebook.

The former Goodwill store on River Road is still empty. EW ran a Viewpoint by Jan Spencer Oct. 9 concerning the future of the building and we hear from Spencer that he’s had a dozen or more responses. “The ideal is to create some kind of neighborhood-friendly use for the building,” he tells us. “A great number of people in River Road would like to see some kind of natural food store, bakery, bookstore, small business incubator, place where people can come and hang out, small retail, bike store, performance place.” Goodwill leased the building for many years but relocated to a larger building out on River Road near Fred Meyer. “The owners of the building are sympathetic for something creative and positive to happen with the space,” Spencer says. 

Real estate values in the metro area continue to grow, according to a Regional Multiple Listing Service market report issued Dec. 11 and passed along to us by Sally Nunn of Prudential Real Estate. Leading the pack is the McKenzie Valley at a 20.5 percent increase over November last year, but that number could be skewed by just a sale or two since not that many homes are on the market up the river. Springfield numbers came in second at an 18.6 percent increase, followed by the Hayden Bridge neighborhood at 16.4 percent and southwest Eugene at 16.3 percent. Down near the bottom are Mohawk Valley, west Eugene, south Lane County and west Lane County. Average time on the market has also gotten better: Last November it was 131 days; this November it was 102 days. Get the report by emailing sallynunn@pruep.com or other realtors. 

Eugene massage therapist Jenya Lemeshow is now offering farmer discounts. Yep, if your muscles are all bunched up from digging taters and planting garlic, Lemeshow will get to the root of your problems and squash those knots. (Sorry about the corny puns. Sometimes they leek out.) Lemeshow is offering $15 off her usual hour rate of $60 for farmers, and $10 off for first-time clients. Email her at synergymassageeugene@gmail.com or call 684-0066.

A free legal clinic for veterans, the first of its kind in Oregon, will be held at 5 pm on the last Wednesday of the month. The next will be Jan. 29. The Eugene clinic is a partnership of the VA Roseburg Healthcare System and Access the Law (ATL), a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of legal services on a sliding-scale basis. “ATL attorneys and other volunteer attorneys have years of criminal defense and civil litigation experience to support justice-involved veterans,” says Marc Friedman, executive director of ATL. Email access@accessthelaw.org or call 242-0445 for an appointment.