Blackbird Shopping Center - Black bird. In the year The Black Bird statue, erected in 1965, stands outside the Black Bird store in Medford. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler)
In the year In 1965 - the heyday of kitschy roadside attractions - Lee Hobbs had the idea to introduce an Army Supply Store in Medford.
Blackbird Shopping Center
Although he had no artistic background, Hobbs believed that his business, which he named the Blackbird Store, needed a 29-foot statue of a blackbird.
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Hobbs designed and built the statue using rebar, pig wire and fiberglass. He may not have art, or bird anatomy, or proportions, but he knew how to build, he worked for the Boeing factory in Seattle and as a mechanic.
His creation, the bird, is the only one that still stands today. A bodybuilder in a bird's clothing can be described correctly.
Hobbes's black bird is a humped biped, toes curled up, claws (perhaps toes?) bent at opposite angles. Its arms (yes, the bird has arms) are twice the length of its legs. A gaping beak beckoned drivers entering the store's parking lot with BB painted with the store's initials on two concrete pillars.
"A lot of people, myself included, see a bird and what they see is shock and excitement and a little bit of fear," said Jonathan Quitt, vice president of Blackbird Mall. "Sometimes we get strange love letters, if you like, with a description of a bird."
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Blackbird's archives contain fan art dedicated to the statue, including an art story about a bird coming to life and a painting of a bird displayed at Walmart designed to confirm its retail dominance.
Cutitt admits the statue itself is "a little creepy" and maybe "nightmare fuel," but it's a Medford icon, so when Blackbird opens a second store next year, it will build another statue outside of it.
"Maybe it's a little bit of pride that you have something special in the neighborhood you live in," he said. "Especially in this day and age, when everything is just corn, the absurdity and uniqueness of this kind of thing makes people laugh and feel a little bit proud."
The Medford Blackbird was not the first bird statue made by Hobbs. Both the Blackbird statue and the store share a history with Yardbirds, a small shopping center in Washington state.
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Yardbirds was founded in 1947 by childhood friends Bill Jones and Rich Gillingham in Central, Washington, originally as a post-World War II army store selling everything from stalls to toilets. The two friends named their store Yard Bird, using the term for a trainee soldier.
In the days before department stores, yard birds were a sensation, stocking clothes, toys, furniture, pets, and household items. The place was famous for its crazy promotions and bird statues in the courtyard, the first one built by Hobbs.
Rob and Karma Hugo made a feature-length documentary about the store called The Thin and the Fat: The Story of Yardbirds. According to their research, Hobbs was friends with founder Bill Jones when they worked together at Boeing. Hobbs decided to make a roughly 10-foot statue of a "backyard bird" for his friend.
"They put it in front of the shop for a laugh but it was so popular that Bill came up with the idea of making more of them and putting them on the street as adverts, which was great," he said. Rob Hugo.
Creating The Blackbird
A collection of yard birds outside a yard bird store in Olympia, Washington. Lee Hobbs, who later founded Blackbird in Medford, created the first Yardbird for his friend Bill Jones. (Courtesy of Rob Hugo)
Hobbs, who ran a service station on the outskirts of Medford, was encouraged by his friend's success and opened his own thrift store in Oregon.
"Bill said to Lynn, I'll send you a couple of merchandise, put them in my shop and see how it goes," Keith said.
Yardbirds later surpassed the Blackbird in bird statue height by building a 60-foot tall bird in 1971.
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Unfortunately, neither the yard birds statue nor the shops exist today. A car driving between the statue's legs burned the statue in 1976. The last Yardbirds store closed in the 1990s. Chehalis' former site is now a flea market, where travelers can see some of the smaller bird statues on the grounds and a former bird-shaped helicopter hangar, though all are worse for wear.
But the "black bird" is still hanging in Medford. Over the years it has grown from a 10,000 square foot surplus store to a full 50,000 square foot shopping center. Blackbird has a little bit of everything: sportswear, hunting and camping gear, home brewing supplies, Ace brand appliances, apparel and kitchen gadgets.
"It's kind of a magical place," Keith said. "People come in here and they walk away with sparkles in their eyes and mouths. People come in here and say they can get lost in the store."
Hobbs died of lung cancer in 1973 at the age of 51, and his sons eventually sold their stake in the business to longtime employee Bill Keith, who became the company's president. Bill's son, Jonathan Quit, started his career as a software engineer about two years ago, joining his father, brother and nephews in the family business.
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Younger Quit led the effort to save the famous bird statue. In the year In 2021, Blackbird hired Augie's Fiberglass to restore and paint the bird, which had weathered for decades and the occasional rear end. Quit wants to bring back some of the old tradition to the statue, recently purchasing a hydraulic lift so that the staff can dress up for various celebrations. The bird's beak has an acoustic system that stopped working many years ago. Quitt hopes to fix this soon.
"I'm very proud of this family business," Keith said. "We're local icons. A lot of people in the Valley have shopped at this store for generations. They shopped here as kids, and now they shop here with their kids, and there's something very special about that."
Soon, the second blackbird will rise above the Rogues Valley. Last month, Quit announced plans to open a second store in Phoenix this summer, expected to open in 2023. This will be the first expansion for the business since it opened in 1965.
Quit hopes to have the same company that restored the original blackbird build a replica statue for the Phoenix shop, perhaps a little smaller — about 20 feet. He says the strange-looking bird has become an important symbol of the store's spirit.
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"We're a very special place, and we just want to go and get lost in that strange place," Keith said. "We're here to stay, and we want it to be weird and fun."
If you go: Blackbird at 1810 W. Main st. in Medford. You can't miss it. For more information, visit theblackbird.com.
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Blackbird Shopping Center is coming to Phoenix, the first expansion of the family-owned company founded in 1965 on West Main Street in Medford.
The 20,000-square-foot center, planned for 4403 S. Pacific Highway, is expected to open in late 2023. The announcement of the project was one of a series of announcements made Monday by the Phoenix Economic Development Corporation about new businesses in the city.
In anticipation of the questions, Blackbird Vice President Jonathan Quit prepared a statement about the project that was read at the meeting at First Presbyterian Church. Blackbird officials held meetings with city planners before submitting the application, but a formal application has yet to be submitted.
The new store offers primarily Ace Hardware hardware, home appliances and garden and garden products, but also offers a variety of sporting goods, apparel, footwear and Blackbird truck and RV accessories.
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In response to emailed inquiries, Quit said the company expected to create 20 to 30 full-time or part-time jobs.
"We've been looking at expanding for years, but we've had trouble finding the right opportunity," Keith said. "Black Bird is proud to be a part of the renaissance of the Greater Phoenix and Talent area following the devastating Alameda fire two years ago."
Quit said he tries to make the store more than just goods and services. He said he was looking for a kit in addition to the usual items associated with a Western flagship store.
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