Kohl's: soon to be our new neighbor

Husband Roberto and I wondered why Kohl's consistently advertises on our Bend TV station (I'm pretty sure these are local buys and not national), when there is no Kohl's for miles around. Now we know. According to the business section in the paper the other day, they plan to build (drumroll) a new location on the pad behind Macy's (the department store formerly known as Bon Marché). In other words, they'll be a new neighbor at our little Pomegranate Home & Garden. This is exciting and a little scary at the same time. It's been nearly ten years we've been toiling away at our little tucked-under-the-pines, slightly off the beaten path location, and it's been a happy ten years. [By the way, watch for announcements of our grand 10-year celebration happening this summer.] I've never been in a Kohl's, but know that they've positioned themselves as being affordable and stylish. That's good. It is curious that competing stores like to build close to one another, à la Lowe's and Home Depot, or Staples, Office Max, and Office Depot (which I get all mixed up), but their marketing/real estate wizards must know something we don't.

So this is nice for us because it means increased traffic on River Mall Avenue. It's kind of the only way to get to the back of Macy's, aside from the little cut-through the mall developers call a Promenade (sorry, haven't seen anyone promenading there; doesn't exactly lend itself to strolling and window shopping). Maybe they'll figure out easier access from the 97 bypass (not too bad if you're coming from the north; a goofy loop-de-loop if you're driving in from the south). It'll make the whole area more prominent and active, and that's good. It also means increased traffic, literally. Will it just be a parade of cars coming and going all day, backed up from the traffic light at 3rd Street? We've had the luxury all this time of using the front curb of the property for parking, and being able to spill over into the Macy's lot when needed. During our flea markets and summer events, the street in front is kind of a madhouse, with everybody parking up and down it. Uh oh.

It's been interesting to watch all the changes over the last ten years, as seen from the front porch of our old homestead (it's not really ours; just the business). There was the tree debacle, back in the "Bon" days, when they cut down a gorgeous, old-growth tree to carve out more spaces in the parking lot (altogether now: "they paved paradise..."). There was the big build-out of Macy's, when they expanded the footprint north and south. There was the extreme makeover of the rear 'pad' area behind Macy's one summer. They had guys back there working at a breakneck pace, overtime, weekends, all the time, blasting and clearing and blasting some more (our poor little Pome shuddered and shook like a leaf every time). We didn't know why there was such urgency to get it done, but figured that some big potential tenant demanded it, then pulled out. There was a lot of talk that it was to be an Olive Garden. Ugh. Then there was the 97 bypass. Suddenly it was done, it filled up with traffic, and it's been a constant low roar ever since. We witnessed the interesting transformation of the mall, when new owners cut it in two and painted it baby-poop brown. Behind us was kind of a mini wilderness where deer still roamed, until they built the rest of the Shopko mall. Next to go, sadly, is the canal that runs peacefully alongside the homestead property and helps keep our lovely, large pine trees alive. We expect to come to work one day and see our little parking lot filled with big cement trucks ready to go to work piping the canal and covering it. Meanwhile, when there's water in it, there are usually fish to be found, and it's a great place to teach a kid how to fish.

We've been kind of quietly doing our thing all these years, somewhat under the radar (the downfall and the beauty of being in a 'secret' location). The homestead, once the only structure for miles around, is now an anomaly, a sweet little curiosity hidden behind all the big boxes and strip malls. It has its maddening faults and is a cranky, creaky old thing at 102 years old, but also has its charms and plenty of character.

This will bring more change, and we hope it's all good.