After nearly 25 years in business WaterMark Corners in downtown Moline will close after this month.
“We have made this incredibly difficult and emotional decision as a family for many reasons, but primarily because it is time for our family to refocus our time, our energy and our efforts on our primary/parent business, Trimble Funeral Homes/CityView Celebrations/Veterans Funeral Care/Cremation Society of the Quad Cities,” WaterMark owner Amy Trimble said Wednesday.
The mother-daughter owned gift shop at 1500 River Drive, Moline (run by Amy and Barb Trimble) has seen growth since COVID but not enough to stay in business.
While everything “new we have tried, such as opening The Corner Bar and our monthly Birthday Celebrations, have been successful and have grown both our traffic and our sales, we still aren’t back to pre-COVID numbers,” Amy said Wednesday.
“Looking ahead, my mother, Barb, is wanting to back off on her hours and responsibilities, and I have always known that I don’t want to run WaterMark alone without her,” she said.
WaterMark Corners has just experienced its most profitable 4th quarter in the business’s 25 years (since opening in fall 1999). “This is in large part thanks to the loyalty and dedication of our amazing staff – who are truly part of our family,” Trimble said.
Trimble Funeral Home (an 182-year-old company) has seen huge growth over the last 10 years in its new building at Trimble Pointe, which opened in 2014 at 701 12th St., Moline.
This past year, they served four times more families than 10 years ago, Amy said.
“In the last two months, we have been the No. 1 funeral home in families served of the 18 funeral homes in the greater Quad Cities,” she said.
“With all of this in mind, we made the decision to close WaterMark to allow me to join my brother, Reid, at Trimble Pointe Companies as COO/Director of Operations,” Amy said, noting her parents will both continue to have active roles in the company, but with greater flexibility in scheduling and hours.
“Barb and I couldn’t feel more loved after all of the support we have received since our big announcement last week,” Amy said. “The emails, the text messages, the stories of your WaterMark memories, the hugs…and the tears. Wow! This was such a hugely emotional decision for our family, and the outpouring of love has been beyond expectations.
“Our store was filled with more love last week that ever before and we feel so blessed to have been a part of all of everyone’s lives these past 25 years,” she added.
Everything must go
WaterMark’s store closing sale started last Thursday, Dec. 28th with everything in the store marked down up to 50% off. Trimble said they can’t give an exact date for the last day at this point – “it all depends on how long our merchandise lasts – we anticipate our last day will be around the end of January or beginning of February,” she said.
“As the sale progresses, we will be adding display pieces, props, furniture and fixtures to our sale – eventually everything must go,” Amy said. “We are closing WaterMark on our terms and going out in true WaterMark style — with lots of fun, laughter and fun.”
The Corner Bar is fully stocked with amazing wines and spirits (all hand-picked by Amy) and they are continuing our Happy Hours every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 3-6 p.m. and Fridays 4-8 p.m., with all drinks half price.
“It has been a very emotional couple of months, especially the last week after we made the announcement to our customers,” Amy said.
In 1995, the family started Wilson House Stationers in Moline’s oldest house. The Trimble family completed restoration of three 1870s buildings in the Historic Block on John Deere Commons in fall of 1999, and opened WaterMark Corners, a diversified retail store offering gifts, jewelry, antiques, children’s books and toys, gourmet foods, bath products, and much more. Wilson House Stationers was relocated to WaterMark Corners in 2004.
In 2021, The Corner Bar at WaterMark was opened in the middle of the store so customers can enjoy wine, beer, or a favorite cocktail while they shop.
The State of Illinois acquired the firm’s main location in downtown Moline for a new I-74 Mississippi River bridge, forcing the family to relocate in 2014.
4 MORE
Committed to staying in the center of the Quad City-area, the Trimble family purchased the former Irving School property at 701 12th Street, and built Trimble Pointe, a multi-faceted development which includes Trimble Funeral Home and Crematory, Veterans Funeral Care, Trimble Funeral Planning, and CityView Celebrations, an upscale reception center for funeral luncheons and community events.
“With the funeral home growing and my dad wanting to back off and not being able to, and my mom wanting to back off here and not being able to, it came down to we could either make a commitment to 3-5 years,” Amy said. “We’ve worked hard and everything’s worked…and we still aren’t back to where we were pre-COVID.
“Looking at it long-term, it was time to make a change,” she said. The reason Amy opened the bar was to give people a reason to come back in person and shop in a fun, social atmosphere.
This year will be the 150th anniversary of Trimble Funeral Home in Moline and the 10th of its new building.
“It’s time for us to put our energies into that business,” Amy said, noting her new position as director of operations will be new. “I plan to work on marketing all the businesses there.”
CityView Celebrations doesn’t just host memorial services and receptions, but weddings, graduation ceremonies and musical events.
Funeral business growth
The funeral business has grown so much, because Trimble Pointe can offer services that other local funeral homes can’t, Amy said.
“More and more people don’t have a church affiliation and churches to have a service in,” she said. “It’s a beautiful, light place to have a family celebration, but you can also have the event after.”
Trimble also has an on-site crematory, which is something many other funeral homes can’t offer, Amy said. She and her brother are the third generation of Trimbles in the business.
The funeral home’s Moline history goes back to 1874 when the “Moline Coffin Rooms” opened on what is now River Drive. It was opened by Charles Knox under the management of his son, E.B. Knox. Trimble’s roots go back to 1841, when Charles Knox moved to the area and started making coffins out of his cabinetry business, becoming the first “undertaker” in Rock Island.
Over 25 years, WaterMark has worked with customers over all aspects of their lives – from births to graduations, weddings and deaths, she noted.
“We help celebrate everything, and what’s been joyous since we made the announcement, our customers are reaching out to us and sharing memories with us and how we’ve been part of their lives through the years,” Amy said. “My mother and I have both shed a lot of tears because we’ve been a part of this community for 25 years with our store. We’re going to miss it but it’s the right time to make this decision.”
She said her family has always felt strongly about investing in downtown Moline, and their 11-month renovation of the WaterMark building saved it from likely demolition.
Looking for a new tenant
The Trimbles will maintain ownership of the building and look for a new tenant.
“We want to keep our investment with the city and we plan to work with the city and the development department to find a good use for these buildings – some of the most prime retail space in Moline, if not in the Quad Cities,” Amy said.
Among her favorite memories are the annual Moline Centre Holiday Hops in November, which stemmed from Amy and Beth Lagomarcino coming up with the idea for a downtown holiday open house.
“We fill the store with people – drinking wine and shopping, filling it with joy,” Amy said. “We do have very strong customer support and high traffic, compared to other businesses in the area. My goal and dedication to downtown Moline is to make sure we find a tenant for these buildings that will continue to support that.”
Like many small businesses, WaterMark could never compete with big online retailers like Amazon on price, but more on customer service and the in-store experience, she said. “COVID changed how people shop.”
“Retail has changed, and more than just Amazon, what’s more is how people look at retail has changed since COVID,” Amy said. “We had a lot to offer people that you can’t get online. I know that will be missed in the community.”
Her family also wanted to go out on a high, celebrating at the top of their game.
“We are not closing because we have to; we are truly able to celebrate this as a change in our business, not as a sad time or one we were forced to do,” Amy said.
For more information, visit the WaterMark Facebook page HERE.
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