(Atlanta Journal Constitution) – -Two important but seemingly unrelated events happened in Carol Held’s life the week of Sept. 15, 2008: She opened a retail store in Atlanta’s burgeoning Westside area, and the global stock market tanked. Held knew EcoEmporium, a local source for all things organic from mattresses to baby clothes to BPA-free water bottles, was a good concept; what she hadn’t anticipated was the economic downturn.
Held and her husband, Bruce, used personal savings to launch the store with the goal of breaking even in 12 months and turning a profit by year three. But last summer, as weeks and weekends passed, sometimes without a single customer visiting the 3,200-square-foot space on Marietta Street, the next move was clear. In March, Held announced the store would be closing.
