By: Deborah Johnson Wood
When Grand Haven outfitter Earth's Edge opens the doors to its expanded retail store this October, owner Karl Tucker expects to have five more employees. When he opens his new boathouse on the Grand River next spring, he expects to create another four jobs.
The store is moving from 222 Washington Street where it's been for the past 13 years, to an 8,500-square-foot store in the new Grand Landing development at US-31 and Jackson Street.
The new store is 1800 square feet larger, and Tucker plans to fill the space with expanded product lines, and merchandise from manufacturers he hasn't carried before. The proposed boathouse will specialize in kayak and canoe sales and rentals.
In addition, Tucker plans to increase the number of products offered on his web site. That means hiring a full-time person to keep the web site updated and fresh, and he hopes that will mean more web orders to ship.
"I expect to have 10 to 15 percent revenue growth the first year in the new place," Tucker says. "We love this community and that's why we're investing our money here and staying right here."
Earth's Edge currently employs 14, plus seasonal staff.
Source: Karl Tucker, Earth's Edge
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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