Business – Page 8 – Dustin Monke

Pheasant outlook optimistic: Hunters flock to Regent as season begins

Pheasants — Lee Donner, right, a Regent native who now lives near Waco, Texas, chats Friday with his friends Jim Stipcich, middle, of Helena, Mont., and John Gerbino, left, of Short Hills, N.J., at a campground off Main Street, Regent.

REGENT — This small southwest North Dakota town typically has two busy seasons: harvest and hunting.

The latter kicks off this morning with the opening of the state’s pheasant hunting season — and Regent is one of the places to be.

Like many rural North Dakota towns this weekend, Regent’s population of about 170 more than doubles, and bars and the little lodging it has fi ll up as hunters from around the state and nation flock to the outdoorsman’s paradise.

“It gets crazy,” said Karen Kouba, co-owner of the Cannonball Saloon and the city’s auditor. “It’s hard to find help just for this period of time. But I think we’re staffed OK this year.”

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Prairie Hills Mall to add popular food chains

Qdoba, Jimmy John’s and City Brew Coffee on the list

Two popular fast-food restaurants and a coffee shop are making plans to locate in the building being constructed in the Prairie Hills Mall east parking lot.

The mall announced the addition of Qdoba Mexican Grill, Jimmy John’s and City Brew Coffee Co. on Wednesday in a news release.

“This is a very exciting project for Prairie Hills Mall,” Peggy O’Brien, Prairie Hills Mall’s manager, said in the release. “Our construction of the new outbuilding allows Prairie Hills Mall to continue our ongoing dedication to Dickinson and the surrounding communities by welcoming tenants who share our commitment to quality.”

Qdoba is a popular food chain that serves Mexican-style food. Jimmy John’s is a sandwich restaurant that is also known for specializing in delivery.

City Brew is a Montana-based company founded in 1998 that has 17 locations in Montana and two in Wyoming. Dickinson will be the company’s first North Dakota store. It’s Dickinson location will feature a drive-thru. “City Brew Coffee Company is honored to be part of the growing community of Dickinson,” Jared Smith of City Brew stated in the release.

Kmart out, Cash Wise in: Big-box store to be replaced by supermarket after 36 years in mall

The first big-box store in Dickinson is closing its doors at the end of the year and a new supermarket is taking its place.

Representatives for Kmart and the Prairie Hills Mall announced Tuesday that the store will close in early December after 36 years. About an hour later, Coburn’s Inc., owner of Cash Wise Foods and Cash Wise Liquors announced that it plans to move into the space and open the supermarket and liquor store by spring 2015.

“We’ve been working to find the right opportunity to come to Dickinson for some time now and I’m glad everything has come together to allow us to open in the spring,” Chris Coburn, Coburn’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

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Bonanza evidence of city’s biggest problems

0919 bonanza — Buffet and steakhouse Bonanza, which has been a popular restaurant in Dickinson for 35 years, closed its doors this week due to a lack of staff.

Last week, Dickinson lost one of its oldest restaurants. Not because business was bad. Not because the food was inedible. Not because of a fire or some other act of God. No.

The Bonanza steakhouse and buffet that has been serving customers for 35 years was forced to shut its doors for good Monday because it could only find 11 employees. That wasn’t nearly enough for franchise owner Bob Wade to keep the business running.

The closure of Bonanza should be a wake-up call not only to Dickinson business owners, but to those who set the price of housing. It’s the clearest sign we’ve seen so far that the cost of living in Dickinson is so high, even successful businesses can’t make it unless they pay part-time workers more than $15 an hour.

It’s time to find a balance and help low- and medium-income workers before more businesses — especially restaurants — raise the white flag and lock their doors permanently.

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Dickinson needs a longterm population solution

Last week, one of my work colleague’s struck up a conversation with a Dickinson newcomer who had recently moved here from Idaho.

The man said he had left an economically depressed area but was doing well here. Still, he had no intention of bringing his family to Dickinson so that he could both work and live here. Why not? It was economically infeasible for him to do so. He was making good money but not enough to find an affordable living situation to make the move work.

So, here the man stays, working hard away from his family and sending most of the money he earns in North Dakota back to his real home. Like so many others, he’s not much more than a visitor to our city and state.

This man’s story shows a reality of what’s really happening in Dickinson and western North Dakota.

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