09/02/2025
GUESS WHAT ! WE ARE CLOSING DOWN AMD LIQUIDATING NEARLY EVERYTHING IN OUR STORE FRONT AT 4930 RIVER RD STARTING WEDNSDAY SEP 3RD. I WILL HAVE SOME THINGS MARKED AND MORE AS WE GO . I WANT TO REHOME (NOT FREE) ALMOST EVERYTHING IN THE STORE , ENCLOSURES , ANIMALS ETC , ALL AT SUPER GREAT DISCOUNTS .
TO THE CURIOUS ONES , HERE THE LOWDOWN ....
1. we have been battling the property owners for the last 2 years to fix ,repair or maintian common areas like building exterior and continual problems with the ac .
2. I myself eric , have grown extremely tiresome of bieng used by the locals as a zoo .(regularly 100s of people a week who have no interest at all of wanting or purchasing a reptile or any supply), seriously not exaggerating. Its taxing , expensive and frankly unnecesarily stressful all around.
3. The amount of reptile expos locally has quadrupled resulting in barely bieng able to cover costs of the expos , let alone make any profit to help the store or otherwise . Frankly put , the market has become over saturated in turn resulting in lower attendance and sales . Seems to like some not all of the promoters want to cash grab at the door rather than make sure ALL vendors are fruitful by keeping the shows we have special and not every 1.5 months.
4. The economy is in a recession whether or not you want to believe it , as a retail store owner I refuse to starve and continue to be used as a zoo for free.
So... I have decided to just simply close and liquidate and keep my breeding stock .
It comes down to math and the market for reptiles . It simply doesn't work in salem long term , after 5 years I could easily continue to struggle and pay the shops bills . The reality is rhe ahop needs to pay its own bills so I have chosen to just close the shop .
I expect to fully be closed around the 15th of September.
To my regular customers, you are and were greatly appreciated , we love you guys and wish the best for each and everyone of you .
I will be moving on with my life and focusing on my children and partner and bieng happy and productive persuing a career while still maintaning interest in breeding amd caring for reptiles. Closing is bittersweet but im not sad or mad , sometimes you just got to know when to fold em and the time has come .