Gator Emporium — Local services in Telluride

I wish I could give this place zero stars. I have never witnessed such child hood behavior and profiling on behalf of the store owner. I walked in with my friend, overwhelmed and excited to browse to awesome array of items, and hopefully pick out a couple treasures. I quickly noticed that the store owner was watching myself and my friend like a hawk, circling around and even doing the same to others. I asked to check out the display of rings, clearly labeled, “rings $13” only to have her snap back that they are toe rings. My friend found a card to send to her grandmother and I found a pair of earrings that I carried around while I browsed. I decided they weren’t my style and put them back on the display where I found them, and my friend chose to just go find a postcard from another store to send. Here is where the problem really escalated. As we were walking towards and out the door the owner quickly stopped checking out her current customer to interrogate us. “Decided not to get the rings or the postcard ladies?” Which we politely responded, “yes”. Then beyond my belief she went, “did you put them back or did you just set them down somewhere?”. The lady working the store who I presume to be the shop owner based on reviews with similar experiences was rude and in these trying times not appreciative to even have customers in her store. It was embarrassing to be questioned as if I was stealing items from her store. As if I could not afford the $6 earrings I was considering getting. So, if you’re looking for a store where you can go and be profiled, interrogated, have your character put into question, and feel rushed to shop, then this is your place.

Might I also add, for a shop containing a multitude of crystals known to help with ones mood and spirit, the owner is most certainly not benefiting from...

STAY AWAY!!!! Review the reviews- our experience isn't the only one!!! I'm officially never supporting this company. I live here and take all of my visitors (family and friends) to the gator emporium. The lady working PAT accused of us stealing. My sweet mother and I were picking out earrings, and she kept reminding us that she hadn't sold any all day and that she was missing six pairs. Then she reminded us that people are looking at the camera. When we tried to check out, she said Just so you know, we are missing six pairs I finally said Excuse me, are you accusing us of stealing? She said I'm just stating the facts. We said we are uncomfortable and not interested in spending this money if you think we stole from you. She made us feel very uncomfortable and sick to our stomachs. We left without purchasing anything. My mom was heartbroken, and after that, being the first store we went to, we walked around and tried to keep shopping, but she felt really uncomfortable. Totally ruined our whole day in Ouray. She was just visiting my home and was treated this way. I went back and purchased the earnings she really wanted and let PAT know she ruined our day. Pat responded that she's sorry but they are still looking at the footage. I told her you'll be sorry when you find out we didn't take them. Ughhhhh....

I walked into this store while visiting Ouray with a couple of friends. Upon walking in, I quickly began to notice that a lady who I assume was the owner of the store was watching us, and clearly upset by our presence. Even though we were enjoying shopping for a number of rocks/other objects, the lady confronted us and asked us very aggressively whether or not we were going to buy any of her products. Later on, after we had looked around for a good while and one member of our party had made a $30 purchase, we decided to head out of the store (the owner’s intrusive presence continued to bother us during this entire process). While leaving, the owner left a conversation with another client simply to mock us, telling us “that’s what I thought” when she saw us leave empty-handed. All in all, the products offered were not unique or particularly impressive, and the atmosphere created by the hostile owner made the trip to the Gator Emporium...