Press Room

December 12, 2008

Crescent Village adds two new tenants to the mix. An upscale women’s clothing store and a wine bar have joined other businesses at the retail area east of Coburg Road.

By Joe Mosley, The Register Guard

Women’s fashion and Oregon wines by the glass or bottle have joined the menu at north Eugene’s Crescent Village mixed-use development.

B2 Wine Bar and Joy’s, an upscale women’s clothing store, have opened in the ground-floor retail area of Crescent Village’s twin “town center” buildings, east of Coburg Road at Crescent Avenue.

“It’s a little upper-scale women’s clothing store with specialty brands and exclusive brands,” said Joy Walker, owner of the Crescent Village shop and another store by the same name on Northwest Glisan Street, near Portland’s trendy Pearl District.

“We have a high quality that’s not (otherwise) here in the city,” Walker said. “I hope I can bring a nice little flavor to Crescent Village and to Eugene.”

Joy’s carries everything from denim jeans to formal wear, along with shoes and accessories. Labels at the 1,000-square-foot store include French Dressing, Mycra Pac, Austin Reed, Cartise, Badgley Mischka and Daymor.

Walker said it would be difficult to set a price range for her inventory, but she described it as “middle-priced to upper-priced” merchandise.

Her costs in preparing to open the new shop - including storefront improvements and inventory - fell somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000, Walker said.

She is splitting her time between her Eugene and Portland stores, and has hired two additional employees for the Crescent Village shop.

Walker said she grew up in Eugene and had been hoping to return with a local outlet of her women’s apparel store - which she compared to former Eugene clothiers such as Town & Travel, Kaufman Bros. and Reed & Cross.

She chose Crescent Village because of its location and emerging retail mix.

“It’s really nice, because it’s not the chain stores,” Walker said. “It’s individual businesses, which makes it so special out here.”

Joy’s is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

At B2 (B Squared) Wine Bar, Manager Andrew Deffenbacher said his business already has built a steady customer base from nearby north Eugene neighborhoods. Apartment residents from the upper floors of the “town center” buildings have adopted the place as a hangout and meeting spot, he said.

“It’s been great - we’ve been open a month now, and it’s been word-of-mouth and buzz advertising,” Deffenbacher said. “Overall, we’ve got a great sense of community here.”

B2 is owned by Beverly and Bruce Biehl, who also own the Eugene Wine Cellars winery. They feature Eugene Wine Cellars’ B2 wines, along with those of other Oregon vintners and a variety of wines from around the world.

The lunch and dinner menu ranges from panini sandwiches, soups and salads to salmon and a crusted rack of lamb.

“We’re getting known for our house-made lobster bisque,” Deffenbacher said. “It’s kind of becoming our house specialty.”

The wine bar also offers a variety of appetizers, from bruschetta to antipasto plates.

Prices on the B2 food menu run from $5 to $14, while wine goes for $4 to $10 by the glass and $16 to $40 by the bottle.

Deffenbacher said the wine bar has turned out to be a north Eugene reunion for most of its principal players - he, the Biehls and head chef Garrett Kirsch all are Sheldon High School graduates.

The Biehls spent about $300,000 on tenant improvements, furnishings and inventory before opening the 2,200-square-foot wine bar and restaurant, Deffenbacher said.

B2 is open seven days a week, from noon to about 11 p.m.

B2 and Joy’s are the sixth and seventh retailers to open at Crescent Village, following Bello Day Spa & Salon, sister restaurants Mezza Luna Pizzeria and Lago Blu Gelato, the Cornerstone Cafe and Izumi Sushi & Grill.

Sadie Dressekie, a spokeswoman for developer Arlie & Co., said the retail space in completed buildings at the ongoing project are now about 65 percent full.

“For pending negotiations, I have five retail stores I’m working with, and three potential office tenants,” Dressekie said.

The town center buildings each have three floors of apartments above their combined 36,000 square feet of retail space, and all are rented, she said. The development also includes 40 units of detached three-story townhouses to the east.

An office building is nearing completion north of the two main buildings, and construction has recently begun on a mixed-use retail and apartment building to the west of the office building.