After three months of reporting on business news, my higher ups have encouraged (forced) me to start a column, with the purpose of highlighting all the free market happenings in our community.

Here’s how you can make my job easy: Submit anything and everything you think may be worth a mention here. I’m looking for promotions, new hires, relocations, openings, closings, expansions, mergers, acquistions, down-sizings. ... You get the idea.

Have you had a banner year? Great! I want to hear that, too. Celebrating an anniversary? Send me an announcement.

I’ll even do my best to confirm or debunk any rumors swirling around town.

Got news? Send it to news@theworldlink.com with “Bay Watch” in the subject head.

Eugenian rescues motel

Meet Don Wilkinson. The Eugenian has brought several under-performing stores up to speed in the valley. Now he’s facing the mother of all business-improvement projects here — the Pacific Empire Motel. The moribund motel in Coos Bay has had a less-than-sterling reputation.

No matter to Wilkinson. He likes a challenge.

When it became available earlier this year, Wilkinson bought it with the goal of bringing the 18,000-square-foot facility back to life.

“This is the biggest project I’ve taken on so far,” Wilkinson said.

Since July, he’s put about $40,000 into it. The roof no longer leaks, and he’s upgraded electrical components.

He’ll spend another $200,000 in improvements over the next two years.

“It needs a lot of TLC,” said Wilkinson.

The building will benefit from an exterior facelift next spring, but Wilkinson has no intention of turning it into a luxury resort.

“There is a large need for extended-stay hotels in this town,” he said.

Occupancy is currently around 85 percent, with some residents having been there since before Wilkinson bought it.

Downtown loses eatery

So long Quiznos. Your turkey bacon ranch will be missed.

It’s likely the sub shop will be closed by the time this paper rolls off the press.

Paul Walton, formerly of Coos Bay, brought the franchise to downtown Coos Bay in 2005. He sold it about two years later.

Its current owner posted a bright green note on the entrance outlining a litany of reasons why the eatery is shutting down. Among them — rising food prices, a pricey lease, corporate mandated upgrades (at the cost of the owner), and construction of the new visitors center, which has made parking all but impossible.

The news hit Chip Dombrowski especially hard. The World’s entertainment editor chomped down on a toasted sub every Thursday.

“I only have three places I go to during lunch,” he said.

Now he’s down to two.

A bit of this and that

•  A staple of the farmer’s market now has a permanent location at 224  Broadway in downtown Coos Bay. Mossy Rock Pottery & Gifts is owned by David Willhite, whose pottery booth has been a fixture at the market and local festivals for years. The store will carry Oregon-made products, including chocolates, and Village Baker goods, another farmer’s market favorite. For more information, call 266-POTS.

•  The Internet has swallowed another print publication. The weekly Koos News ditched its print product in favor of being an online-only information source.

•  Full Moon Taxi is out of business. The phone is disconnected and the Web site is down. The owner could not be reached. That leaves Yellow Cab as the only taxi service in the county.

•  Customers at Fiddlesticks Gifts, in Newmark Plaza in North Bend, can direct 20 percent of their purchase to North Bend and Coos Bay schools, as part of “School Week,” starting Monday. There will also be a free gift for every customer and drawings for more than $300 in prizes throughout the week.