01/07/2022
I’m about to channel my father here, and make a very long winded post. If you don’t stick around to the end, lol, I get it.
I’ve had many people question about why I decided to close the shop, and I don’t think I’ve really been open and honest with everyone, including myself. But I’d like to give a little back story to everything.
Of course, I started va**ng to quit smoking. The hospital i worked at at the time had went smoke free and it was was becoming a major pain to leave the campus to take a break to smoke.
A few months into 2014, I found The V**e House. Holly and Eric Walker, were the original founders. When I walked in to that shop on Broadway, I fell in love with it! Holly had the place set up in such a way, you felt like you were at home. I hoped that one day I would be able to have a place like that and I even had dreams about it. Then one day, it became possible and i was able to buy and take over where Holly left off.
There’s been a lot of ups and downs over the passed 7 years. There’s so many changes that have happened I can’t even begin to touch on all of them because we would be here for days. I’ve been on the verge of closing a few times but I was always able to dig in and pull it out. When the fake THC carts came out and everyone was blaming them for “va**ng deaths” it really put a hurting on the va**ng industry. Then it was Covid, which has affected tons of small business. I was working almost everyday at the shop when I wasn’t working my weekends at the hospital.
Things have continued to slow down because people have been turning to online( but that’s about impossible now). I couldn’t compete with online stores. They are selling stuff just within cents of my cost. And I get it everyone needs save money, moneys tight.
But to sum it up, I’m tired. I’ve grieved over this decision for weeks. I’ve put everyone and everything before me for far to long. Yes, I believe could have made it through this down time, but I just don’t have it in me to keep pushing and fighting. I have felt like I let all my customers down by closing. I’ve felt like a failure cause it got to this point. But I have had time to reflect and I realize that I didn’t fail, I’ve actually succeeded and grown. We’ve helped countless people quit smoking and that’s a huge huge accomplishment. We managed to pull through times when others would have folded. And I have realized that now it’s time to take care of me.
I had thrown out the idea of doing group buys. I was hoping I would be able to do it to help people out, but honestly I just don’t think I can. V***r lock people, don’t freak out!!!!!! I got you! The guys V***rs are going to start carrying it! So you’ll still be able to get it! I’ve talked to them a lot about the products I carried and they are gonna do their best to get what y’all need!
So all that to say I love all of y’all, many of y’all have become extended family to me, and I don’t wanna lose touch! Feel free to add me on Fb if you want! I’ll miss seeing y’all at the shop! And who knows, I may venture back into small business later on! But for now I have to rest and focus on my family and me.
If you made it to the end, thanks for sticking it out!
Love all of y’all!
Amber
