I happened to be on Route 80 in Nevada on Monday September 29th and decided to take a trip out to the empty playa to see what it was like barren and hippieless. As I approached the Empire Store, I wanted to stop and get a cold drink and saw the front doors open. As I went to walk in, I nearly collided with the metal security grate that was pulled down. I heard lots of activity inside and saw the note on the front door announcing that it was closed. I took pictures of the front entrance and can e-mail it to anyone more computer savy than me, that wants to post the photo here. Just PM me and I will send it off to your e-mail.
I posted this article from today's paper (10/12/2008) on another thread, but think it might be more appropriate to start a new one.
Here it is:
Lone store for Gerlach and Empire in limbo
By Jaclyn O'Malley • [email protected] • October 12, 2008
The fate of the lone grocery store serving the northern Washoe County towns of Empire and Gerlach is up in the air after a legal battle between the owner and former manager left the business closed indefinitely and without stock or equipment left to keep food fresh.
For years, the Empire Distributing Company on Nevada State Route 447 has been the only source for milk, bread and medicine for the area's 550 residents.
It's also been the last stop for necessities for Burning Man participants on their way to the Black Rock Desert.
Empire is about 7 miles south of Gerlach, and both towns have few services beyond a post office, schools and a gas station.
The grocery store recently closed after a lengthy legal dispute between 83-year-old owner Donald Marks and the store's former manager, Donald Lawson.
Lawson moved out earlier this month and took everything out of the store, claiming he owned it and had purchased the equipment from Marks.
Marks said Lawson was
merely leasing the business. Marks said he owns all of the equipment in the store, which he said he has owned since 1985.
U.S. Gypsum Company Plant owns the property where the store, a gas station and a home are located.
A recent court order required Lawson to vacate the store. Lawson said he left because he allowed the purchase agreement he had with Marks to expire.
The legal wrangling has left residents worried they will have to take all-day trips just to get basic groceries. The closest grocery stores are in Fernley or the Reno-Sparks area.
"It's really sad," said Jennifer Thompson, who is married with two children ages 10 and 13. "We've lived in Empire
14 years, and now where are we going to go just to get bread, milk and medicine? It's a two-hour drive just to get to Reno.
Marks said he would like to revive the business, but he doesn't have enough money to sustain it. The business never earned much money, he said.
"This is really a disaster for the community," Marks said. "There's no bread or milk now, and there's kids living up here. There are retired people with no transportation.
"I don't know what to do," he said. "You've never seen such a mess."
Sherry Anderson has lived in Empire for 35 years and went
to the store every couple of weeks, and liked the dinner specials offered, such as pizza and tacos.
"Now I have to plan better for milk and eggs, stuff that's fresh," she said.
Anderson said she travels to Reno and shops at Wal-Mart, Winco and Costco.
"I buy a lot at once," she said. "It's a two-hour, one-way trip, so it takes all day to get groceries. It's going to be a big hassle with winter and the gas prices. I really hope their doors open back up."
Chuck Duffy of Gerlach routinely makes shopping trips to Reno every couple weeks to stock up and said he didn't use the Empire store that often.
Duffy said it was a convenient place to buy hunting permits, and it also had tourist items.
"It's just devastating," said Marks' granddaughter, Amy Wick of Reno, who worked summers at the store when she was younger.
"Two weeks ago, it was a running store, and today it's gutted and we can't even attempt to use it," she said.
Empire Store troubles.......
HI MY NAME IS AMY MY GRANDFATHER OWNS THE STORE IN EMPIRE.. I APOLIGIZE FOR THE STORE NOT BEING OPEN AT THE TIME U DROVE THROUGH TOWN. SADLEY THE STORES BEEN DESTROYED, WERE DOING OUR BEST TO GATHER FUNDS TO REOPEN! WE WILL BE HAVING A FUNDRASIER A.S.A.P!! WE WILL HAVE MORE INFO NEXT WEEK. ANY QUESTIONS OR PICS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME! [email protected] THANX FOR UR TIME AND AGAIN OUR FAMILY APOLGIZES FOR THE STORE NOT BEING OPEN TO THE FAMILIES IN EMPIRE & GERLACH. WE ARE TRYING SO HARD TO GET U A STORE AGAIN!!! HOPE TO MEET EVREYONE AGAIN :cry: SOON!!!!
It's so nice to hear that you are working on getting things running again. I know you will be getting lots of support from the local community, as well as the Burning Man crowd.
You may need a little clever creativity as you put things back together, but have faith that you will end up with a nicer and more professional looking store.
The first thing I would recommend is to contact all the various suppliers and see if they can provide fixtures and shelves to fill the place. Most will either have some to give you, or know of another of their customers that may have remodeled and are willing to give you some of the surplus. The same can be done with the refrigerated cases. Most drink suppliers provide those at no charge as long as you are selling their drinks.
With the economy in the toilet, most suppliers would welcome the chance to get their product in as many new places as possible.
Also, consider expanding the products that are sold there. You might even walk around a store like Walmart to get ideas of what unique things might sell at your "NEW EMPIRE STORE"!
There are some thoughts and I hope that others can give some more ideas for you.
You may need a little clever creativity as you put things back together, but have faith that you will end up with a nicer and more professional looking store.
The first thing I would recommend is to contact all the various suppliers and see if they can provide fixtures and shelves to fill the place. Most will either have some to give you, or know of another of their customers that may have remodeled and are willing to give you some of the surplus. The same can be done with the refrigerated cases. Most drink suppliers provide those at no charge as long as you are selling their drinks.
With the economy in the toilet, most suppliers would welcome the chance to get their product in as many new places as possible.
Also, consider expanding the products that are sold there. You might even walk around a store like Walmart to get ideas of what unique things might sell at your "NEW EMPIRE STORE"!
There are some thoughts and I hope that others can give some more ideas for you.
dont forget about the possiblities of asking Burners for help....its kinda what we like to do!
Reno Decompression party is this Sat Oct 18th!
Post a IDEA.... of a clean up party, so to speak.
Paint outside....inside....who could donate some fun paint colors.
Lots of people have used cans of paint laying in their garages.
Alot of burners are ARTISTS!!!! Murals of Empires history or even present day " mardi gras' burningman style" type...etc...
Seams like there are alot of ideas to help this issue.
Now lets see if those idea's can become a reality.
Reno Decompression party is this Sat Oct 18th!
Post a IDEA.... of a clean up party, so to speak.
Paint outside....inside....who could donate some fun paint colors.
Lots of people have used cans of paint laying in their garages.
Alot of burners are ARTISTS!!!! Murals of Empires history or even present day " mardi gras' burningman style" type...etc...
Seams like there are alot of ideas to help this issue.
Now lets see if those idea's can become a reality.
Names pinemom, but my friends call me "Piney".
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mdmf007
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Gyre - just back in town, drop a call sometime this weekend. Due to the playa being so shithoused rough - no landspeed runs this year. UIt would take an army o flatten out a 12 mile track (well 5 of them) to be viable.
Sorry to hear about the store, asking vendors for help is the best way to go right now. Rackage, and coolers are stacked in the corners of most vendors warehouses.
Sorry to hear about the store, asking vendors for help is the best way to go right now. Rackage, and coolers are stacked in the corners of most vendors warehouses.
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theCryptofishist
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Sham
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In the SF Chronicle today, there is a story about the Empire Store being open and fully operational. Owner Donald Marks attributes the opening to all the help he received from the BM community.
Here is the article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... ype=health
Can anyone confirm that it's fully stocked and running?
Here is the article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... ype=health
Can anyone confirm that it's fully stocked and running?
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oneeyeddick
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It been open for awhile now, the store closing is not that big of a deal to most of the residents of Empire/Gerlach anyhoot.
Most of them make trips to get provisions and the Schwanns truck provides dairy and other srevices for most that need it.........
beer, booze and cigs are the biggest sellers throughout the remainder of the year.
Most of them make trips to get provisions and the Schwanns truck provides dairy and other srevices for most that need it.........
beer, booze and cigs are the biggest sellers throughout the remainder of the year.
We have an obligation to make space for everyone, we have no obligation to make that space pleasant.
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Sail Man
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Amen Brother!wedeliver wrote:That is wonderful. All you guys who responded with offers of help, equipment and funds are just great people.
I hope the store is profitable and I wish them the best of luck!
Excuse me Ma'am, your going to feel a small prick.
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Algorithms never survive the first thirty seconds of patient contact
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Algorithms never survive the first thirty seconds of patient contact
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Playa Foot
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Please excuse me for going back on topic.
There are new owners of the Empire Store, the shelves are stocked the place is clean and the people are very nice.
Sadly USGypsum is closing the Empire plant and everyone will have to leave the company housing (the only housing) in Empire. The wners are going to try to keep the store going but theyare facing two serious problems, first their customer base will be cut in half or more and USG may stop providing power and water. These are seriud problems not only for the Stre owners but also for the people of Gerlach who will have to go 80 miles to Fernley for groceries.
There are new owners of the Empire Store, the shelves are stocked the place is clean and the people are very nice.
Sadly USGypsum is closing the Empire plant and everyone will have to leave the company housing (the only housing) in Empire. The wners are going to try to keep the store going but theyare facing two serious problems, first their customer base will be cut in half or more and USG may stop providing power and water. These are seriud problems not only for the Stre owners but also for the people of Gerlach who will have to go 80 miles to Fernley for groceries.
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Sham
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Well PF, there is much more to the Empire Store issue. The big picture is a huge multiprong pitchfork.
The least of the issues is a car driven by a teen girl that drove through the front of the store recently, and went clear to the rear of the store, destroying everything in it's path.
The closing of the gypsum plant will further devistate this depressed area to the point of it heading toward ghost town status.
The entire town of Empire is owned by U.S. Gypsum and 90+ employees will be out of work as of January 31. They will be vacating their homes by the end of June and the houses will be mothballed. These workers and their families will need to head out of the area to look for employment.
The school in Gerlach had 75 students total in grades K-12. Once the plant closes, that number will drop to 12 students. Some of those kids left are the children of teachers, and they too may need to move for better opportunities. The school will be forced to close and with it, more jobs will be lost.
In short, this senario will leave less than 100 people in the area to support an already struggling store.
I would hope that the store had lots of insurance for the damage done with the car accident, and they take the money and run. There is simply nothing that can justify repairing and opening the store again.
The least of the issues is a car driven by a teen girl that drove through the front of the store recently, and went clear to the rear of the store, destroying everything in it's path.
The closing of the gypsum plant will further devistate this depressed area to the point of it heading toward ghost town status.
The entire town of Empire is owned by U.S. Gypsum and 90+ employees will be out of work as of January 31. They will be vacating their homes by the end of June and the houses will be mothballed. These workers and their families will need to head out of the area to look for employment.
The school in Gerlach had 75 students total in grades K-12. Once the plant closes, that number will drop to 12 students. Some of those kids left are the children of teachers, and they too may need to move for better opportunities. The school will be forced to close and with it, more jobs will be lost.
In short, this senario will leave less than 100 people in the area to support an already struggling store.
I would hope that the store had lots of insurance for the damage done with the car accident, and they take the money and run. There is simply nothing that can justify repairing and opening the store again.
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geekster
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Actually, this brings to mind an idea I had a long time ago for serving remote rural areas. Imagine "safeway.com" on steriods. I got the idea when visiting friends in Southwestern Utah (far Western Iron County) where the nearest grocery store was over 50 miles away.
Imagine being able to place grocery orders online or by phone. Twice a week, the grocery chain sends out two trucks. One truck is "bulk supplies" and has the things people have ordered in advance. Basically it is a refrigerated tractor trailer. The other one is a trailer with expandable sides where the middle becomes an aisle and the sides have refrigerator or freezer cases where people may browse for items. Maybe even once a week. Instead of 100 people having to drive to the store, the store comes to them. The "store" might make a circuit of various towns. The "bulk" trucks might even be sent out separate from the "browse" truck.
So you have bulk supplies arriving in a tractor trailer and a rolling convenience store that makes a circuit. So you can order a week's meat and potatoes and go pick it up in town (along with the rest of your neighbors).
Actually, it wouldn't even require a major chain to do it, one could probably start such a "virtual store" with a website and a couple of tractor trailers and a converted RV or something.
Imagine being able to place grocery orders online or by phone. Twice a week, the grocery chain sends out two trucks. One truck is "bulk supplies" and has the things people have ordered in advance. Basically it is a refrigerated tractor trailer. The other one is a trailer with expandable sides where the middle becomes an aisle and the sides have refrigerator or freezer cases where people may browse for items. Maybe even once a week. Instead of 100 people having to drive to the store, the store comes to them. The "store" might make a circuit of various towns. The "bulk" trucks might even be sent out separate from the "browse" truck.
So you have bulk supplies arriving in a tractor trailer and a rolling convenience store that makes a circuit. So you can order a week's meat and potatoes and go pick it up in town (along with the rest of your neighbors).
Actually, it wouldn't even require a major chain to do it, one could probably start such a "virtual store" with a website and a couple of tractor trailers and a converted RV or something.
Pabst Blue Ribbon - The beer that made Gerlach famous.
