Year in review: Two big goodbyes to businesses in 2017

The business sector continued to undergo changes this year.

Clovis and Portales welcomed many new businesses in 2017 but possibly the biggest development of the year was saying goodbye to two stores that have been fixtures in the community for decades with a combined 120 years in operation.

Woody’s Jewelry announced plans to close in November. It opened in 1955 and moved to its present location on the southeast side of Portales’ square in 1962.

Owner Danny Woodward said he and his wife Chris are suffering from “burnout” after more than 30 years operating the store together, but they’re leaving on a high note.

“We had a great year last year, and we’re up actually 12 percent over last year,” he said.

Chris Woodward said it’s been a great ride.

“It’s a fun business,” she said. “It’s a feel-good product. You get to be a part of people getting married and celebrating birthdays, anniversaries. It’s a tremendous amount of fun.”

After nearly 60 years in Clovis, Sears closed its doors for good in December. The national department store came to Clovis in 1958, first located on Main Street at the current site of the Clovis-Carver Public Library before Sears moved to the North Plains Mall in 1989.

Farmers and ranchers were not immune to business struggles.

“It’s an ever-challenging evolving beast in agriculture,” Roosevelt County Agriculture Extension Agent Patrick Kircher said. “There’s far more outside influence pushing back into agriculture, a lot more questions being asked of producers and how they do things and it’s ever more complicated.”

Kircher said a pair of hail storms in July hindered crop production this year.

“Here in Roosevelt County we had two major hail storms that came through that really annihilated a lot of crops,” Kircher said. “They pretty much wiped out our cotton crop and did a lot of damage to our corn crop as well.”

Crop yield was also affected by moisture.

“Moisture was very spotty across the county. Some places saw a really good year, some places didn’t, so in turn crop yields varied across the county,” Kircher said, adding that even farmers with good yields are having trouble making money due to high commodity prices.

Kircher said ranchers had a better year.

“Cattle prices have held pretty good and most places were able to grow some grass for the winter,” Kircher said, adding that on the dairy side farmers are still struggling with milk prices.

Prince Street in Clovis saw multiple new restaurants open this past year. After months of delays Chipotle Mexican Grill opened in February.

Other Prince Street restaurant developments include a new Denny’s that opened in January and, in March, Arby’s underwent a remodel, adding new seating, signage and a new exterior.

Eastern New Mexico exercise enthusiasts welcomed multiple new locations to work out in 2017. In Clovis, Planet Fitness opened a location on Llano Estacado Boulevard on May 15, the Clovis Rock Gym officially opened in April on Commerce Way and Iron Curves Fitness Club opened in August on Main Street.

For children, an inflatable fitness center called Kids Go Wild opened in June on Main Street.

In other regional business news:

• Roosevelt General Hospital hired new Chief Executive Officer Kaye Green in March. Green replaced former CEO Larry Leaming.

• Traci’s Greenhouse moved into its new home in March, relocating from Prince Street to Mabry Drive where owner Traci Franklin purchased the 18,000 square foot building that used to host Joe’s Boot Shop. Coffee Bistro shares space with Traci’s, after relocating from North Prince.

• Pet owners saw several businesses come to the region this year to provide all of their animal needs. The national chain Petsmart opened a location in Clovis on Sept. 25 and locally owned Pet Works opened Oct. 16. Pet Works currently sells fish and reptiles but will be adding birds and other animals soon.

Portales pets were not left out either as a pet grooming business called Sam’s Grooming Shop opened around June on Main Street in Portales.

• C&S, Inc., an auto parts retailer and tire shop in Portales, celebrated its 80th anniversary in August with a car show, food, a bouncy house, a slide and a dunking booth.

• Pilot Travel Center opened a location on Mabry Drive in Clovis in November. The travel center includes 10 gasoline positions, five diesel lanes with high-speed pumps. Inside are PJ Fresh, which offers pizza, soup, sandwiches and other food and Dunkin’ Donuts.

• Under Lock and Key, an escape room experience where groups of people use clues to escape a room where they are trapped, moved to a new home in July, now located at 2909 N. Prince Street.

• Champion Xpress Car Cash, a family-owned business out of Lubbock, opened a new location in Clovis in July on North Prince Street.

• Scott’s Car Wash in Muleshoe opened a dog wash at its American Boulevard location in May.

• A co-working space called Edge Co-working opened in January in Clovis.

• Island Girl Acai Bowls, a smoothie and juice bar, opened in Clovis on Main Street in August.

• Roden-Smith Pharmacy moved down the road to a new location on Llano Estacado Boulevard in November. Around the same time Roden-Smith owner David Lansford opened a new coffee shop next door called Blackwater Coffee Company.

• Invenergy and Xcel Energy took steps toward bringing a new 522-megawatt wind farm to Roosevelt County. The companies signed an agreement in March to buy the Sagamore Wind Project facility when it is completed. The planned wind farm will be located 20 miles southeast of Portales, is expected to be operational in 2020 and will include around 250 wind turbines.

• A pair of businesses moved into the former site of Landall’s Video Store at 401 S. Ave. C in Portales. Steve Blakeley, who has been in the business for nearly 50 years, brought Eastern New Mexico Taekwondo to the store front in August.

Also operating out of the same building is Dance Studio Xtreme, which Kelsy Prince opened in July. The dance studio offers classes in jazz, ballet and hip hop to children ages 3 and up, and Prince said they are looking at adding adult classes as well.

• Misty James opened Massage Therapy by Misty James in October, located at 100 S. Knoxville Street across from Portales High. James provides pain relief through a combination of therapeutic massages, relaxation massages and aroma therapy.

• Natures Way Dairy operators Katy and Jamie Kulesa received the Organic Farmers of the Year award at the 2017 New Mexico Organic Farming Conference held Feb. 17-18 in Albuquerque.

• Future Dairy Service, was named a “star client” for its extensive work by the Small Business Development Center at Clovis Community College and was invited to attend a dinner held by the New Mexico Small Business Development Center Network on Jan. 26 in Santa Fe

• Momma’s Hands Bakery opened this summer at 1195 S. Main in Portales

• Second Blessings Thrift Store opened in April in Portales and moved later in the year to 312 S. Main St.

• Nutritional products and supplements store VIP Nutrition opened Nov. 18 at 1817 S Ave. D in Portales.

• Making the Cut Hair Studio opened in November, located at 203 S. Avenue H in Portales.