Eudorable Home was more than just a furniture store with unique decor pieces, said customers at the store’s closing sale Saturday. It was also a place for people to come together.
Owner Courtney Gebauer will close Eudorable Home after three years. The retail store was born from her idea to turn furniture resale into a full-time job. Since then, community members said the location has grown beyond selling unique furniture, mugs and prints.
“It was really fun to see, like, the transformation and for her to breathe a little bit of life into Eudora,” said Ashley Koller, a customer and friend of Gebauer’s. “It’s sad to see it closing … we’ve come in here to just hang out and that, I think, was a lot of people.”
Gebauer said it is a tough time to be a retail business competing against big chains that can offer lower prices. That, combined with a new personal opportunity, led her to close the store.
She has been volunteering for a nonprofit called Inclusion Connections for around nine years and recently decided to join the staff. The organization aims to help adults with special needs gain independence and employment opportunities.
Gebauer said the store will have another closing sale in two weeks on Feb. 24. She hopes to sell or lease the building to allow a new local business to take over.
Aside from the community that Eudorable Home built, Kirsten Holub said the store had unique items not found at bigger national chains.
“There’s original stuff, like it’s not the same old,” Holub said. “When you go to Nebraska [Furniture Mart], there is one in every color, but here it’s unique.”
Koller said it was fun to watch Gebauer’s idea grow into a reality as the store opened and expanded over the years.
“I’ve been friends with Courtney for a long time,” Koller said. And it’s kind of like her chasing one of her dreams.”
Gebauer said people have told her that they think of the store when they have certain decor items in their home. That kind of community built around a shared love for interior design is what made her time running the store so special.
“They just all made me feel so welcome,” she said. “And they’re, you know, they’re sad to see me leave, but it’s just time.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
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