Joe's Trickle Down Effect

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Story Published: Apr 10, 2009 at 6:44 PM PDT

By Chelsea Kopta

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KENNEWICK -- Melissa Kratz knows it's coming. The day when all the inventory will be gone and the manager-in-training will soon be out of a job.

"I love sporting goods," she said. "This was half my life. I've had people tell me that, too. Pretty much of a workaholic and now what am I going to do? I can't do anything."

WIthout warning, Melissa's dreams came to a screeching halt.

"If I have to make money somehow I'll probably give up something: move out of my house, give up my car, whatever I have to do," Melissa said.

I found she's just one in a long line of people hit hard by Joe's collapse. I made a graph of a handful of vendors and wholesalers who worked with Joe's, including Gunarama, All Sports, Ellett Brothers, and more.

They're financial tremors felt as close as West Richland and as far as South Carolina.

"We really feel like we lost a best friend today," D & G Bait Inc. Part owner Cindy Pickthorn said about Joe's Closure.

D&G Bait Inc. was a major supplier for Joe's. They're based in Oregon, and sold about a fifth of their products at the store. Columbia Sportswear is another. Joe's was their largest distributor in the region.

"We had one guy in today that said he bought the last fishing license Joe's has to offer," Lonnie Cargill said, owner of Island View bait and tackle shop in Richland.

Lonnie said he regularly referred people to joe's for fishing licenses. Now he might actually benefit from the closure.

"I feel bad for the people losing their jobs but... I think we'll gain some business," he said.

Maybe Lonnie needs a few extra hands at work because Melissa and 54 of her co-workers are in desperate need of a new beginning.

The trickle-down from just one store closing its doors.

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