Yeah, I know, it’s only October and the holiday season is already upon us, but Ashland Artisan Emporium (in the Ashland Shopping Center) is ready for you. The premier collective marketplace featuring 160 local vendors is celebrating their ten-year anniversary with a huge open house on Saturday, November 14, from 11am-6pm. The event will include a 10-year Anniversary Sale with 20% off everything in the store.

You gotta love resourceful entrepreneurs. When Ashland’s Robert Cope injured himself while working construction in 2007, he decided to re-focus his attention on cleaning windows.

“I built Eco-Clean Windows by going door-to-door with my two sons looking for customers,”

Northwest Nature Shop (154 Oak Street), one of the most popular stores in the downtown area, has been in the Uhtoff family for 35 years. In 1985, Kathy and Mike Uhtoff were looking to move from Portland to a smaller town where they could open a shop that encompassed their love of nature, their passion for wildlife conservation and education. Their children Pat, Chris and Marie, were 18, 17 and 10 at the time.

Established in 1983, The Breadboard Restaurant (744 N. Main Street) has been locally owned and operated for over 36 years. And when Gilberto Tagui and his son Ivan bought the business from Pete and Kristal Foster in December 2019, the tradition behind this local favorite continued.

My how time flies when you don’t have to worry about driving to Medford to buy appliances and mattresses. It was a mere ten years ago (September 2010) that Joel and Jenny Jessee opened Ashland Appliance & Mattress at 1401 Siskiyou Blvd (right above Papa Murphy’s). Joel has deep roots in the valley.