On Biz: A new look, a new location for ComSpan

ComSpan Communications of Roseburg has a new look and a new location.

After a two-month remodeling project, the business opened its doors at 278 N.E. Garden Valley Blvd. on Oct. 29. Seventeen employees are working in the 5,000-square-foot building that is being leased by ComSpan.

“This location is more convenient for our customers, and there's better visibility,” said Brian Medley, the general manager of the Comspan office for the past 2 1/2 years. “For our customers, this is a much more pleasant place. And now we're on the first floor as oppose to the second floor which was the case at our former location (1012 S.E. Oak Ave.)”

Work that remains at the new site is the installation of a ComSpan sign and repaving and restriping of the parking lot.

ComSpan provides telephone, Internet and Direct TV services.

Information: 229-0229.

GRAB & GO EATS

With Safeway and Rite Aid having left downtown Roseburg streets, Shawn and Sherry Miller saw a need.

They hope they've filled it by opening Grab Get & Go in Suite 3 of the Umpqua Hotel Mall that's on the corner of Jackson Street and Oak Avenue. The business offers hot and cold breakfast cereals, sub sandwiches, salads, muffins and bagels, crockpot soups and beverages.

“Our idea behind it was to have someplace readily accessible and inexpensive for workers in the downtown area to get a quick lunch, snack or soda,” said Shawn Miller, who owns the new business with his wife, Sherry. “We wanted to make it fairly simple.”

The store is small with no room for food preparation, so all the food choices are pre-packaged or pre-made and then heated if necessary.

Miller said the new store has had some decent days of business, but Miller said he's still working on getting the word out about it. He has put sandwich boards at both entrances to the mall and is working on getting some window signs done. He knows the smell from a popcorn machine will also be attractive.

“Some people have come in and said they didn't even know this was here,” Miller said. “As we're getting the word around, business is picking up.”

The store hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Miller works a lot of the hours, giving him a second job. That makes him even with Sherry, who also works two jobs.

Grab Get & Go can be reached at 391-9242.

SANDY'S PLACE OPEN

Encouraged by customers, Sandy's Place is now open again for dinner. But only on Friday evenings.

Seating begins at 4 p.m. at the restaurant at 1700 N.W. Garden Valley Blvd., Roseburg, and continues to 8. Guests may make reservations or walk in. There is seating for 67.

Dave Mack, the restaurant owner, said dinner was served four nights a week beginning in the summer of 2008, but then because of the downturn in the economy, he had to pull back and dinner hours were cut in December.

“Now we're back by popular demand from the customers,” he said, adding that the Friday night dinner hours were added Oct. 30.

The restaurant number is 672-5225.

VENT CLIPS

Bob Andrews is not a Douglas County businessman, but he made his way around the area recently with a new product that he created.

After about three years of trial and error and 30 different designs, the former police officer who retired to Prineville finally has a product that he's selling. They are house foundation vent clips.

When Andrews started a wintertime business, Snowbird Services, to winterize and take care of property and homes for those people who travel south to warmer climates, he discovered house vents just didn't stay up very well. That put him to thinking, hoping to improve upon using bricks, sticks, rocks or Styrofoam blocks. He explained that a product might be simple looking, like his plastic vent clips, but advises other inventors in similar situations to be aware that creating and marketing a product can be time consuming and costly.

“It's tough when you're a single-product inventor,” he said. He wasn't discouraging of trying to sell something new, just trying to help with a warning.

Andrews is optimistic his product is a winner because 2,000 packs of two clips each have been sold so far this year and with winter coming on, he believes sales will increase to 15,000 packs by the end of the year. His initial outlets were 15 stores in Central Oregon, but Andrews and a distributor have been working at finding more outlets. Harrison Hardware in Winston and Budget Lumber in Roseburg now carry the clips.

More on Andrews' new product can be found at www.snowbirdservicesof oregon.com.

BIZZ BUZZ

“I feel the business world today is not as bad as everyone thinks it is. The current conditions have required us as business people and consumers in general to go back to basic conservative values and procedures. Don't pay too much for something, don't overextend on credit, banks must make borrowers qualify and don't buy things you don't need and can't afford. The one part that is very scary is the enormous debt the federal government is creating that we will be burdened with. However, if you provide a quality service or product at a reasonable price I think you can weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side. Things are fine for us right now but we started preparing for this economy 3-4 years ago.”

Rick Poland

RAP Rental Properties

Roseburg



• On Biz is not an endorsement, only an introduction to businesses in the community. Reporter Craig Reed can be reached at 957-4210 or creed@nrtoday.com.