Saturday, October 5, 2024

 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.