CAMAS, Wash. — In an era when businesses nationwide have struggled to keep their doors open during the COVID-19 pandemic, downtown Camas has been a notable bright spot — and the local business community is preparing to share its success story in an upcoming art exhibit.
Lara Blair, who operates a photo studio in Camas, is spearheading the “Pivot Project,” a portrait series that spotlights the owners of the shops, restaurants and galleries that line the city’s main street and surrounding blocks. The portraits and accompanying business stories will be on display during a happy hour event at 3 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the downtown Camas restaurant Nuestra Mesa.
Blair’s photo business specializes in portraits of children and families, but earlier this month while passing through the city’s downtown main street, she was struck by how many businesses remained open after 18 months of economic hardship, and began thinking of ways to celebrate the city’s resilience.
There have been almost no local business closures since the pandemic began, and the central blocks have even seen some prominent new openings and expansions. Downtown Camas is on track to emerge from the pandemic with more businesses than it had at the start, according to Carrie Schulstad, executive director of the Downtown Camas Association.
The new arrivals include artisan goods store Poppy and Hawk, baked goods shop Truly Scrumptious, a pizza restaurant called Camas Slices and – coming next month, according to Schulstad – a toy store.
“We survived better than any downtown I know of,” Blair said.
Blair settled on the portrait gallery concept as a way to commemorate the success of both the individual businesses and the downtown community. She was initially apprehensive about how many owners would be interested, but quickly found a long line of eager volunteers.
Over the course of a two-day shoot, dozens of nearby business owners visited Blair’s studio to sit for portraits and share their stories about how they adapted and thrived during the pandemic. Some owners came by themselves or as spouse owner teams, while others brought members of their staff.
A few more joined the project in subsequent days, bringing the final total to nearly 40 participating businesses.
Blair named the project in reference to the “pivots” that each business made in order to stay afloat. Some of the common approaches included an increased social media presence, take-out food options and online ordering and delivery for retail, she said.
Community support was another common factor. Many of the businesses had loyal local customers bases that went out of their way to keep shopping and ordering take-out to prevent them from going under.
“I felt like my customers really rallied around me and my neighbors to make sure that you had some revenue stream,” said Kimberly Koch, owner of Truly Scrumptious. “They were placing orders for things I’m pretty sure they didn’t need – I’m 100 percent sure – but just to show their support, just to be kind.”
Camas also benefited from being a destination in and of itself, Blair said, with a densely packed array of downtown retailers and restaurants to draw in visitors. That’s an essential piece of the city’s success, she said, because of the town’s location at the outer edge of the Portland metro area.
“You don’t really come down here on the way to Safeway or the doctor,” she said.