Vancouver janitorial supplier Bennett Paper & Supply closed Thursday after nearly 80 years in business.
Owner Bob Nagel told The Columbian that the rising costs of rent, wages and taxes pinched the business. Sales were rising, but not as fast as expenses, he said.
Other factors were “margin compression and new forms of competition, and the cost of maintaining a little store,” he said. Nagel bought the store two years ago.
He sold the business’s assets to Walter E. Nelson Co., a competitor based in North Portland. Nagel said about half of Bennett’s 10 employees will go to work for Walter E. Nelson.
