Third Pullman business to close fall 2024
By Olivia Harnack, Whitman Count
Gazette, Colfax, Oct 3, 2024
PULLMAN
— The Pullman business community is facing another setback as The Batting Cage,
an indoor batting practice facility, has announced it will close its doors on
Friday, Oct.11, 2024.
Open
for just over a year, The Batting Cage occupies the old Higginson’s Furniture
store, a building that was once home to Finch’s Grocery.
This
closure is part of a larger trend in Pullman, where several long-standing
businesses have recently announced their shutdowns.
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From
Pullman Cup of the Palouse blog, the following amplifies what was in the story:
=Pullman Building Supply opened in 1996 on North Grand Avenue just north
of downtown A “super store” location was built on the south end of town (400 S.
E. Fairmount Dr.). It opened in 2015. =
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In a
press release, Moscow & Pullman Building Supply cited a lack of demand and
economic factors as the reasons for the decision to close the Pullman location on
Fairmount Drive by the end of November 2024.
The
company stated that the closure was not made lightly and was driven by market
changes and future economic forecasts. Moscow Building Supply, however, will
remain open.
Pullman
Building Supply expanded in 2015 by opening a larger “superstore” on the south
end of town.
The
store’s managers had previously opposed the arrival of a Home Depot in the
region.
The
University of Idaho approved a lease for a Home Depot to be built behind the
Palouse Mall in Moscow, though
construction has yet to begin.
The
trend of business closures in Pullman began earlier this month with the
permanent closure of Pullman Village Centre Cinemas. The theater, which had
been operating for 21 years, closed on September 5, 2024, citing increased property
and admissions taxes and the rising Washington state minimum wage as
contributing factors.
According
to a statement on the theater’s website, these factors made it financially
unsustainable to keep the Pullman location open.