Columnist Susan Snyder: Another BC store bites the dust

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at [email protected] or (702) 259-4082.

Get your fossilized turtle poop before it's too late.

The Where On Earth? store in Boulder City has petrified poop aplenty, but not for long. The three-year-old gift, gem and fossil store is closing its doors April 21, leaving a historic business district struggling to avoid extinction.

Heidi and Glenn Reed, who deal in the quirky and kitschy (rare opals, sharks' teeth and alien driver licenses), are moving their odd operation to Myrtle Beach, S.C. -- via Alaska, Poland, Australia and Bali.

"We have books to write and traveling we want to do," Heidi Reed said. "Our website is doing so well, and so is e-Bay, that by June we probably wouldn't have needed a storefront. It just made good business sense to go back to a place we love, and that's the beach."

Boulder City certainly isn't a beach. Keeping a business open there ain't no picnic either, said Glenn Reed, Heidi's husband and business partner.

"Since we've been on this street, 24 other businesses have opened and closed. That was before Sept. 11," he said.

Since then, tour buses have come with less frequency and fewer people.

"We've had $1.50 days," Heidi said.

The Reeds say they aren't bitter.

Business is booming at tellmewhereonearth.com. And they've leased their spot to Alice's Wonderland, a store currently located in the town's historic hotel. They also are leaving behind a couple of popular displays of fossils and kids' items to maintain the continuity of businesses along Boulder City's main drag.

Such cooperation and vision is what they always have said is lacking among "Old Town" retailers.

"There's a serious lack of cooperation among businesses in Boulder City," Glenn said.

A consultant the city hired in November agrees. The executive summary of the Nov. 15 "Boulder City Marketing and Economic Revitalization Study" by Bender & Associates calls the historic section's business mix "dismal." It cites inconsistent hours of operation, poor aesthetics and "limited cooperation among businesses and their customers" as "serious problems."

The Reeds say some residents avidly supported them while others never set foot in the place until the going-out-of-business sale started.

"A woman who lives four blocks from us hadn't been downtown in seven years," Glenn said. "But she came trottling in here to get her 40-percent discount."

He recalled a recent visit from a Las Vegas woman who inquired about a delicatessen that used to sit a few doors down. She was with a friend from out of town and wanted to eat there.

"She said the last time she ate there was for its grand opening. I told her it had closed about six months ago after being in business for 13 years," he said. "She hadn't been down here in that long."

The consultant's report says visitors described Boulder City as "quaint" and "friendly." But good qualities can easily die of neglect. The Reeds say they have loved living and working there, and they hope city officials, business people and residents can make it succeed.

"This has been like the old country store with the pickle barrel," Glenn said. "We have had a blast. We are going to miss a lot of things about Boulder City."

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