Discounts Plus to Close stores in The Dalles, Gresham; Shutdown to leave 22,000 square foot retail hole locally
File Photo - Discounts Plus proprietors Mike and Mary Kelly of Fairview, Ore., after purchasing the former JC Penney building, where they are pictured above, from Warren and Shirley Sawyer for $625,000.
By Tom Peterson
THE DALLES, Ore., Dec. 16, 2025 — A downtown retailer that once helped revive a long-vacant storefront in The Dalles is closing its doors.
Discounts Plus, a liquidation retailer that opened in The Dalles in July 2019 inside the former JC Penney building, announced this month it is closing both its The Dalles and Gresham locations after 14 years in business in Oregon.
In a public announcement on Monday, the company thanked customers, employees and neighbors for their support, calling the closure the end of a chapter “filled with countless memories, friendships, and the joy of serving our community.”
Store employees said they expected the store to remain open for several more months before closure.
The The Dalles store, located at 212 E. Second St., opened after JC Penney shuttered its downtown location in 2017, leaving behind a 22,000-square-foot space that had long been a major retail anchor and foot-traffic driver, even on Sundays.
The business is owned by Mike and Mary Kelly of Fairview, Ore., who purchased the former JC Penney building in 2019 for $625,000 from Warren and Shirley Sawyer. At the time, the Kellys said buying property was part of a long-term strategy to manage operating costs and build equity rather than continue leasing space.
CCCNews is attempting to reach the Kellys for comment and will add to this story if new information becomes available.
When the store opened, the Kellys described The Dalles as an underserved retail market, noting the absence of major chains such as Target, Costco and Kohl’s. The store specialized in liquidation merchandise sourced from national retailers including Walmart, Costco and Safeway, offering a wide mix of groceries, tools, clothing, home goods and seasonal items.
Local business owners welcomed the store’s arrival, saying it helped draw shoppers downtown, particularly during evening hours. At its peak, the store employed about 10 full-time workers and was the company’s largest location.
A The Dalles resident said the closure will be felt most by families who relied on the store for affordable food and household staples.
“There are a lot of families that count on this store for food,” the resident said. “This is a blue-collar town, and a lot of people are living on the margin. It was well stocked, had higher-quality products than other discount stores, and you could get a good bag of coffee for $5.”
In addition to The Dalles location, Discounts Plus is also closing its downtown Gresham store at 211 NE Roberts Ave., a building the Kellys also own. The company did not announce a final day of operation but listed contact numbers for both locations.
Discounts Plus launched its first store in 2013 and grew into a small regional chain operated by the Kelly family, including their three sons. The company said while the stores are closing, the gratitude it feels toward the communities it served “will last forever.”
