Rob Alaeddine, co-owner of the Lac La Biche's new store Glass Emporium, wants to set the record straight. He isn't trying to promote drug use — he's just selling items customers want to buy.
Rob Alaeddine, co-owner of the Lac La Biche's new store Glass Emporium, wants to set the record straight.
"I definitely know there's going to be some negativity out there," he said. "I can understand the families and the kids and stuff like this, that's totally acceptable. I'm a family man myself, but it's just business, and what works in today's market."
While some in the community have criticized how his shop advertises and prominently displays marijuana paraphernalia, Alaeddine insists that he isn't trying to promote drug use - he's just interested in selling items customers want to buy.
"We're not specializing or focusing on the 420, but we do carry it," he said. "I'm not trying to bring anything negative to the community, but the demand is here, and that's what we're doing right now."
The number 420 is commonly associated with marijuana use. While the glass pipes, Bob Marley ashtrays and herb grinders sold at Glass Emporium can be used with tobacco or other legal substances, these items are commonly associated with marijuana culture.
In his former trade as a general contractor, Alaeddine's business was heavily dependent on the overall economic climate. When oil prices sunk last year, work dried up.
"I had my schedule full that whole summer, to go out and do quotes," he said. "I was getting calls back when I did my follow-ups - 'Oh, I'm sorry, my husband got laid off from up north,' that sort of thing. The economy took a downturn, so I needed to do something quick and fast, and something that'll maybe be stable in the future."
Alaeddine said he opted to open up Glass Emporium because he saw it as the type of business that would stay afloat even in a poor economy.
"There's three things in a recession that stay level," he said. "Restaurants - people are going to still go out and eat whether they're poor or not, they still find the money. Liquor stores - they still drink when they're happy, or depressed. And these kind of stores as well. People are going to do their thing."
He's originally from Edmonton and now raising a family in Grassland, but he opened the store in Lac La Biche because he saw a hole in the market here. Similar stores operate in Athabasca, Cold Lake and Fort McMurray, but his is the first in Lac La Biche County.
"Every town and every city we go to, these stores are popping up, and it seemed like a good idea," he said.
So, with his brother Kevin on board as a fifty-fifty partner, Alaeddine scouted a storefront, phoned up suppliers, and started preparing for business. Two months later, Glass Emporium was ready to open.
The storefront, located on Highway 36 just off Main St., opened to the public at the end of June.
Although they feature heavily in his advertising and displayed merchandise, Alaeddine stressed his store offers more than just glass pipes.
"We're not trying to promote drugs, or anything associated with drugs," he said. "I want to give a bit of variety for everybody."
The store currently sells custom-made metal wall art, hemp-based bath and body products, graphic blankets and statement T-shirts for men and women. In the future, Alaeddine is interested in adding indoor tanning to his store, and possibly esthetics or piercing services as well.
"I don't want people to be scared and say, 'oh, it's one of those shops. I want the girls to go in and say, 'They have the hemp shampoos and the hemp lotions.' You girls love that stuff, right?'" he mused.
"They know they can come in and get it for a decent price. I 'd like to keep a nice lively atmosphere in here of positivity...I have water fountains here to create kind of an atmosphere, some music to make it a little hip in here."