We moved! … Again
The first issue of the Humboldt Times was printed on Sept. 2, 1854, out of our offices in what would become Old Town Eureka. Another daily, the Humboldt Standard, got its start a few years later in 1875. Fast forward about a century and the two merged to form the Times-Standard. A short time later we moved into the big gray building at 930 Sixth Street.
As the industry and business model changes so too does our requirement for physical space. Last year in the face of revenue challenges worsened by the pandemic, instead of reducing our newsroom and thus our production of local news, we consolidated our printing operations and removed the presses. Over the years we had already reduced a lot of the space we used to inhabit, so by summer of 2020, we were down to a few offices on the top floor and a small distribution space off the loading dock out back. We adjusted to the new situation better and faster than I’d hoped.
Then about three months ago, I got an email from our landlord — they were exercising the cancelation clause in the lease. Now, I don’t begrudge them. Business is business and they found a way to monetize that empty space. But finding office and distribution space would prove to be a big challenge. There was only one warehouse available and it just wasn’t suitable. It was likely not even very long term. So, I reached out to my contacts in the community and both HSU and College of the Redwoods stepped forward with distribution space. CR ended up being the best option, but I’m deeply grateful to HSU and my contacts there for their gracious offer and time spent. And speaking of gratitude, I’ll never be able to express the depth of mine to Dr. Keith Flamer, president of College of the Redwoods. Suffice-it-to-say, I was honestly moved by his response. There was no hesitation. No question. He would find a way to help us and that was that. And it’s not as if the space was already available. His fantastic maintenance staff emptied 600 square feet of storage, found parking for our little vehicle fleet, everything. And all for rent an intrepid community newspaper could afford. That left offices and out of the few options available we settled on 39 Fifth Street in Eureka. You know what? I like it. It fits us perfectly and working in a three-quarters empty newspaper building can be a little disheartening anyway. By the way, huge shoutout to Redwood Adult and Teen Challenge. They took what could easily have been a two-week job by a professional moving company and got it done in five days.
If you’ve never worked with them before, I urge you to reach out. It’s a good cause and they do amazing work. I could not be more impressed.
Now, how will this move affect you? Since the pandemic closed our offices to the public, it shouldn’t change much of anything. Contacts for our circulation, editorial and advertising staff, including legal notices and obits, are all still the same. You can find those on the “Contact Us” page on www.times-standard.com. Payments for advertising, subscriptions and single copy should always be mailed to the address on your invoice.
The newspaper business has changed a lot and will continue to change. There are newspapers (and lots of other businesses these days) that don’t even have a physical office any longer, preferring to do business with a completely remote workforce. This move is just one more pivot in a long line of them as we continue to bring Humboldt the best local news possible. And like I said, since 1854, it’s not even the first time we’ve moved. It strikes me as almost poetic that after 167 years we’re closer to where we started.
Thanks for reading.