COLORADO SPRINGS — The beloved Good Earth Garden Center in Colorado Springs is closing its doors after serving its loyal customer base for 49 years.
The owner, 75-year-old Wayne Fisher, opened the shop when he was 24 years old. He said the business started as a 20-square-foot shop in downtown Colorado Springs with the name Good Earth Greenery. A few location and name changes later, the Good Earth Garden Center now sits off of I-25 and Uintah Street for a few more weeks.
Fisher said a costly plumbing upgrade is part of the reason he has decided to close the business. He said the replumbing is needed to bring the site up to city code and would cost around $23,000.
"If I were younger, it would be worth it," he said. "The Good Earth name will be no longer in a few weeks."
He said the business notified customers on their email list of the closure last week. Within 10 minutes there were people at their door for the garden center's retirement sale. He said the next day there were even more people.
"There were quite a few people lined up at the door waiting to get in. There's been a lot of hugs and tears. A lot of the people, we go back a long way," said Fisher.
Diane Hoff, a loyal customer for many years, was one of many stopping in to say her goodbyes. She said she was sad to hear the news but understood the circumstances.
"It made my heart sad. It's a neighborhood place and it's off the beaten path. If you don't know about it, you don't know about it. But there are the regulars who know about it," she said.
Long-time employees, like Robin Boutilier who has worked at Good Earth Garden Center for 22 years, said the regular customers and experienced co-workers made her job feel like fun instead of work.
"People come in and they want to hug you. People call us and say 'We're sorry.' I mean, I don't doubt that maybe if we collected the mail there might be a note or two," she said.
The land is up for sale, but the business is not. Fisher said the shop will close when inventory runs out. He said within 10 days after announcing the closure, 90% of items are gone.
He said he will miss interacting with customers but is excited to be able to spend more time with his grandchildren.
"Basically 50 years of doing something and that's all I've ever done. I hope it's the end of a chapter and not the end of the book," he said.
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