QuickTake:

For the Peak branch manager who will manage the new site, it’s a “full-circle” moment.

Hannah Shaw worked as a hostess at Shari’s Cafe & Pies in Springfield as a teenager more than 20 years ago.

Now, she’ll manage a credit union branch being built at the same location on Beltline Road near Gateway Street.

“It’s just kind of more strange than anything how life kind of takes you on these different paths, and you never know, you could end up right where you started in a whole different capacity,” Shaw told Lookout Eugene-Springfield. 

Her next job after Shari’s was at Northwest Community Credit Union, one of the companies that recently merged to form Peak Credit Union, where she has worked for two decades.

Shaw was among Peak Credit Union staff, executives and board members who put shovels in the dirt of the former Shari’s location on Wednesday, July 22, to mark the groundbreaking for the bank’s new branch.

Peak Credit Union branch manager Hannah Shaw, 41, attends the groundbreaking event for the credit union’s new branch on Wednesday, July 22. Credit: Brooke Taché / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

“Just that full circle moment for me to see, here’s where you started and here’s where you’re at now, makes me feel a little taller today,” Shaw said.

All Oregon Shari’s locations closed in October 2024, and news reports at the time said Shari’s owed the Oregon Lottery over $900,000. Public records show TwinStar Credit Union of Olympia, Washington, which merged with Northwest Credit Union, purchased the 1-acre property on Beltline Road and applied for permits to demolish the building. 

While the restaurant is gone, a large red Shari’s sign on pillars still looms above the road. The sign will soon be updated with Peak branding. 

The new branch will replace Peak Credit Union’s location less than a half-mile away on Gateway Street, where Shaw works now. The current branch, in a building the bank has been leasing, will remain open until the new branch is ready next spring.

“This is really an opportunity for us to have our own place, if you will, put a stake in the ground, make an investment in the community,” said Michelle Anderson, Peak Credit Union’s chief growth officer. 

The Peak Credit Union team celebrates the building of a new branch near Beltline Road and Gateway Street in Springfield on Wednesday, July 22. The old Shari’s sign will be updated later. Credit: Brooke Taché / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

The company has 34 branches in Oregon and Washington, including four in Eugene and Springfield. 

Peak Credit Union CEO David Tuyo told Lookout the new location on Beltline Road will be more convenient for members and offer more visibility for growth.

“We’ve invested a number of years in our digital capabilities, making sure that no matter where you are or when you are, that you want to do your banking, you can do that,” Tuyo said. “And then, as we kind of matured through that process, we’re getting feedback from our members that they still really want that in-person experience.”

State Sen. James Manning Jr., D-Eugene, attended the groundbreaking as a supporter of credit unions, which are nonprofit member-owned financial institutions. 

“I recommend that anyone that is looking to invest in their future to first consider credit unions,” he said. “Credit unions are founded on people, and it’s about people.”