In 1983, Rising Tide was ready to expand into what (now just) Melanie and Jerry felt was a “huge” space – a 3000 sq ft store on Forest Avenue in Glen Cove. Using money from savings, and Jerry’s part-time job as a track coach and substitute teacher, they ventured forward – tapping into their greatest resource: their customers.
The proposition? For every $1000 customers invested in the new store, they were given a store credit of $1100. These customer investments raised half of the money needed for the expansion, which would have been impossible without them. As a result, even today customers rightly feel that this is their store.