emporium

It's sad to see any business that has been around for a long time go under. On a serious note I don't think any suggestions to Jim or Maureen would have helped. I sold EP coral for 2 or 3 years, made tons of suggestions (that were asked for by jim) everyone involved knew what was needed to have a successful fish and coral area ....just no one cared. After finding corals I sold priced for 4 times what I sold them for my being nice ended, there was an agreement made that the corals I sold to EP were not to be marked for more than twice what they were bought for....4 times the purchase price on local corals is just sad.When Tina and her sisters ran the salt department on la port rd things were starting to turn around for the better. After the move things just got pushed to the side. I feel bad in ways and in ways everyone knew it was comming. I've never personally seen a store with so many things before, clean up the crap, spend the money to hire people who have a clue and things might work out. If I'm giving the advice to an employee on basic salt water know how something should be changed. It's said to see things go down like this but I don't think because you work there you have the right to basically tell the consumers who may or may not come into the store to shut up and stop expressing there views on the matter. The truth hurts sometimes it's just a fact of life.

 

I am sorry that i put Save for them, that was bad wording. and yes I was told that when the coral was given to EP, it was in bad cond.  But Myself and I think everyone else on this forum doesn't ever want to see a Coral die. But for one thing Since the store has been at that location EP has not had god enough light to keep half of the coral that you have had in there.
I didn't meant any harm on EP, I do like that store and am really going to Miss having a LFS in town if they do not stay open. I have spent hundreds of dollars in the store and have even sold you Corals, Fish many of times. ALso spent Numbers of hours Learning from and Teaching  thing about the hobby from employees and other customers in the store.
It will be a sad if Emporium will no longer be in the waterloo/ cedar falls area

 

It is my hope that this information will get back to whomever is buying or running the store after the 15th. As we have discussed a million times, this area needs a quality Saltwater store and can support it if done correctly. Emporium could have survived if proper steps would have been taken especially with the move. That was a perfect chance to revamp things, but all the clutter and problems from the first store just moved right into the new one. I realize the owners may be up there in years and may have been set in their ways, if that was the case they should have sold out and cashed in awhile back. To be successful in business you must change to meet demand and to grow your business. If your business is not growing it is dying.

I am sorry that people are losing their jobs, but come on. They should have seen this comming. They also should have taken more pride in their work and helped the owners get the store in shape, if they wanted to stay employed. It just seems to me that everyone just got too comfortable collecting a pay check and let things slide (the only way to slide is down). If I am wrong and that you all truly tried your hardest to make things work, I apologize. To the future owner or anyone reading this that is thinking of starting a saltwater or pet shop, save yourself time/money and start FRESH (Don't buy old mistakes it is not good business) and do not start until you have a comfortable cash flow setup from maintenance accounts and grooming services. The best stores in the state are built on that model for a reason, it works.

 

I wonder how much I can buy that old 90 gallon RR down in the salt section for. Been eyeing it for a while and its been empty since the move.

 

it's sad to see the place close if it does and i agree with glaspie about how the salt dept was really starting to come around when it was on la porte rd. and here is a ? i would like to here people's opinion"s on!!! Why is there not a nice salt shop in the waterloo/cedarfalls area? there seems to be alot of people in and around the area that could keep a small or even bigger shop going. over the last 10 or 15 years there have been some small shops pop up here and there,never to last long for various reasons. i have to get down to cedar rapids and check out bobo's.i really think if someone was to open up a store in this area and posted on sites like this one(like bobo"s does),you would draw in numerous customers,hell i bet alot of people would donate things(or sell at a good price) that they have laying around collecting dust(tanks,equipment,etc) especially if someone just focused on just salt and kept their shop and tanks pleasing to the eye! now i know times are tough and i would love to do something like this myself,but it would be pretty much a pipe dream for me right now. But on an ending note, i encorage any one that might have the means to do this,even if it is just part time out of their basement...

 

One of the biggest problems with owning a store in this area would be the cost of the lease/rent for the space, you would really have to sell a lot of coral and fish just to break even. The only way you could keep your head above water would be to have lease tanks or maintenance accounts, which would be tough because there aren't that many folks around here who have that kind of money. I've though about turning my garage into a shop many times but the overhead is just lethal.

 

Supposedly a lady named Renee is buying it who is nice & has big plans

 

Wasnt there a gall who used to work there named Renee? I hope it all works out for the better but the only way for them to have a better fish section would be to totally re vamp the whole thing. Those old ten or twenty gallon tanks just wont cut it.

 

Hey maybee we could make a local club event to help do it right.

 

If ever asked I would love to help them set up a great store.

 

Ditto, i think as many reefers we have in the area we should have somewhere besides pet co to get our fix.

 

yea i would help too. I think they still have those haildes pennets in the back somewhere. They need to get those mounted

 

Maybe as an area meeting (pending the new owner wants the advice and help) we could sit down with her and offer our point of view and possibly work something out. I know I've been temped to drive down to bobo's a few times just because he keeps posting his fish and coral lists weekly. I think thats a really good idea beings we have no stores around here and I don't know about anyone else but I hardly ever make it to CR unless I know what I'm going for. The weekly update has really gotten me in the mood to buy more.