Columbia Bank stock has been enjoying a nice ride on the upside since the company’s annual meeting last Wednesday. The stock closed today at $27.01, up nearly 23 percent from where it was a week ago.

The stock was up 3.3 percent today.

And it’s doing quite nicely as measured against its commercial banking peers in the West. Bloomberg News reports that it is down 9.03 percent over the past year – which may not seem strong until the number is compared to what nearby banks are showing.

Bloomberg shows Oregon’s Umpqua down 41.6 percent; Sterling Financial of Spokane down 31.69 percent; Banner Corp. down 43 percent; Cascade Bancorp down 59.11 percent; Heritage Financial down 24.86 percent; and Frontier Financial Corp. down 36.48 percent.

So what’s going on?

Part of the answer is credit quality. Columbia conservative approach, and diversity of loans, has been showing results. And Gary Schminkey, Columbia executive vice president and CFO, said this afternoon, “I think investors are looking at banks that don’t have problems waiting in their wings.” He also mentioned a report by the analyst firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, which this week rates Columbia as “outperform,” thus giving a strong buy signal.

KBW’s target price for Columbia stock, trading as COLB, is $28 per share. The firm offers that Columbia’s latest operating results “were among the strongest in the Northwest.”

The chart above is from Bloomberg and shows Columbia stock over the past 12 months.

Wilcox Farms Inc. announced in a release today that Linda Thomas has been named chief executive officer.

Thomas has worked with the family-owned business in various capacities for the past 18 years. She takes over for senior family members who plan to spend less time in the day-to-day operations of the business. The new appointment is effective immediately.

“I am deeply honored to have been chosen to lead this company as we carry out the family’s vision of providing a healthy, local product for consumers in the Northwest – and beyond,” Thomas said. “We have incredible opportunities for growth and I am excited to be a part of our expansion in the organic and cage-free egg business.”

In announcing the promotion, the company emphasized its commitment to keep its 1,500 acre farm in Roy as farmland.

Thomas will mentor and prepare the fourth generation of Wilcox family members toward future corporate leadership.

While Thomas will serve as CEO, Jim and Barrie Wilcox will maintain advisory roles, and three members of the fourth-generation will hold senior management roles in the egg business. Family members will continue serving on the board of directors.

Before moving to Wilcox, Thomas served as executive director at a Tacoma law firm. She also represented the state’s 26th District. She has an MBA in managerial leadership from City University and a bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College.

It’s almost here – that $4-per-gallon gasoline. Actually, if you’re buying premium, it’s already arrived, according to AAA. The average price of a gallon of ethyl in Tacoma hit $4.03 today, up from $4.028 on Monday.

The sign above shows that a central Tacoma 7-Eleven is selling a bit below the city's average price for the highest grade, and a bit above the average for regular-grade, which topped out at $3.706 this morning, which is just a hair under the all-time record in Tacoma, set on Sunday, at $3.707.

And if Tacoma wasn’t in record territory today, other Washington cities were. Count Bremerton, Olympia, Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Vancouver and Yakima among the pacesetters.

Tacoma did, however, hit a record price for diesel today – at $4.469.

Click! Cable TV is adding 16 new channels to its lineup Wednesday – including 13 high-definition channels.

The new HD services include A&E, CNN, Discovery, ESPN2, Food Network, Fox News, FX, HGTV, Speed, TBS, TLC, USA and Versus/Golf.

Click! will also three standard-definition channels: Chiller - a channel for horror movie fans, ESPNU – a college sports service with over 550 live games from 25 Division One conferences and RTN – Retro Network featuring classic reruns like Wild, Wild West, Hogan’s Heroes, Quincy and Happy Days.

“Customers have been clamoring for more HD programming and we’ve delivered,” said Mitch Robinson, Click! Cable TV’s marketing and business operations manager.

Robinson said that as far as Click! knows, no other cable operator has launched more HD in one day in Washington.

The cable provider is also offering free workshops Wednesday to familiarize customers with HD equipment.

“Cable 101: the ABC’s of HD” workshops will take place at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Tacoma Public Utilities Auditorium, 3628 S. 35th St.

Customers should call (253)502-8900 to reserve a spot for the 7 p.m. class. The 3 p.m. class is full.

Nordstrom has signed a letter of intent to open a store at the Mall at Green Hills in Nashville, marking its entrance into the Volunteer State.

Scheduled to open in 2010, the three-level store will comprise 149,000 square feet, according to "Daily Clips," a business newsletter from the Palm Beach Post.

The Mall at Green Hills, owned and operated by the Davis Street Land Company, is a 735,000-square-foot shopping center currently anchored by Macy’s and Dillard’s alongside upscale tenants including Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton.

Burberry, Juicy Couture and Kate Spade are slated to open stores at the mall later this year.

Nordstrom stock - which hit a 52-week high of $55.99 early last May – rose 39 cents to $37.00 in trading yesterday.