February 28th was the day when many people in the Twin Falls community came together to celebrate the town’s Sodamix soda shop one last time.
Derek Coates, a Sodamix co-owner, when asked about the reason behind the closure, responded, “With the economic times, inflation, and food costs with items such as eggs and butter made it really difficult for us to be profitable as a company.”
With the high inflation in America right now, there are many local businesses struggling to make a profit. Mr. Coates expressed, “I hope that things will turn around for the local shops. Hopefully, they will continue to do what they do and be successful as the economic times hopefully change. We need food prices down so that people can make a profit.”
Krista Coates, a fellow Sodamix co-owner and Mr. Coates’ wife added, “We were Sodamix’s Number 1 store, and the corporation in charge of the franchise refused to help us make any changes during these hard times.”
Mr. Coates also shared ideas for what could have been potential Sodamix changes if the corporation allowed, such as, “(Wanting) to start offering sandwiches and paninis to the community. This was because, for example, we would have a wave of students from Canyon Ridge come into Sodamix, and it felt wrong feeding them cookies, pretzels, and soda for lunch.”
Mr. Coates also explained that rent prices are continuing to increase during these hard economic times. Isaac Reid, a student at Canyon Ridge and former Sodamix employee, explained regarding the issue, “We closed because sales were hurting and rent was super high. I don’t have a job anymore because of it.”
The students at Canyon Ridge aren’t the only ones affected, however. Haven Elison, a former Sodamix employee expressed, “I too worked there, and I am a student at Twin Falls… A lot of students around town are upset about it.”
Mrs. Coates shared, “I loved and already miss seeing the community coming through the store and having relationships with them and the kids we had working with us.”
