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Business & Tech

Five Questions With: Eula Grove

For nearly 40 years, Eula Grove, along with her husband, Joe, has been running the Coral Reef Rock Shop on Green Key Road.

Eula Grove still isn’t sure what possessed her husband, Joe, to buy up a rock shop 40 years ago. The seemingly random purchase catapulted her into a business she knew almost nothing about. But it's a business that has endured for nearly four decades.

“You just start growing and learning, and that’s what you do,” she said.

Walk into the Coral Reef Rock Shop, located at 4911 Green Key Road in New Port Richey, and you will find four rooms filled with polished rocks, gemstones, African masks, jade carvings, crystals, silver, fossils and heaps of shells.

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After her husband bought the rock collection, Grove made her first sales selling gems and polished stones to friends over her dining room table and decided that she was going to officially start a business.  Soon, she found herself looking for a store.

She and her husband discovered the 1,200 square-foot home that now houses the shop and bought it for $17,500 in 1972, according to county property records.  Grove moved in with her family and ran the business out of one room.

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“That didn’t last too long,” she said. “We grew out of this instantly.”

She ran the shop until she convinced her husband to quit his construction job and manage it with her. They’ve been going strong ever since, offering their customers wholesale prices and an experience like none other.

Patrons are bombarded with instant visual overload when they walk into the block home and see glorious strings of beads dangling from the walls and shelves upon shelves of natural goodies.

People mostly find the shop through word-of-mouth. Most any other advertising, the couple says, is a waste of money. When heading out to this hidden gem of a shop, don’t look for a busy business area. It's in a neighborhood of other small 1960s residences and mobile homes, a short distance from Green Key Beach and the Gulf of Mexico.

Patch spoke to Eula Grove about her shop.

Patch: Why did you get into this business?

Eula: Well, that’s a good question. Just kind of grew into it. My husband bought a rock shop out and brought it home. There were cabochons and other gems sets, so I started putting them all together. And I put a tablecloth on the table and I laid them all out. Joe’s mother had come over our house and then some friends and I put them on display, and they loved them. I sold them some of them.

Patch: You’re kind of hidden out here. How did you choose this location?

Eula: Well, that was another thing. Let’s see. I think it was my brother who says, “These people we know have a place out there on Green Key Road if you want to buy it.”  Another friend of ours worked at the Chamber of Commerce ,and she says, “Eula, while you can still get grandfathered in, you need to come and get your license." So, I went out and got my license and got grandfathered in for business. We are the only licensed business in this area. And no one else can actually get one - they’ve tried - because the county changed the [zoning and business] rules and regulations. 

Patch: Where do you get your stones?

Eula: The stones come from all over the world. Different stones come from different places in the world. Tiger’s eye comes from South Africa. We have beautiful agate from Brazil.

Patch: To what do you attribute the business' longevity?

Eula: We work together and we're honest. We always try to tell them what it [particular stone] is. We're just honest with them. We do a lot of retail business but that's just one part of it. We do a lot of international wholesale shows.

Patch: Who should come check you out?

Eula: Anyone who’s doing beading. We’ve probably got the biggest collection of beads and supplies in the state, if not the country. We have a nice selection of gemstones, glass and crystals. People who like unusual and unique things should come by.

 Joe and Eula Grove's shop is open Monday through Friday, unless they’re at a trade show. Call (727) 849-0817 to check on hours.

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