Meet Chris Demiduk of Emerson Creek Pottery and Tearoom in Oswego

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Demiduk.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Chris . So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
While visiting in Virginia, my fiancé (now husband) and I happened to come across Emerson Creek Pottery in Bedford, Virginia. We had to travel down a long, gravel road down to a clearing with an old farmhouse out in the country. We were able to experience their property where they make all of the pottery on-site and hand paint each piece. It is truly a beautiful destination where people seemed so happy to be.

After the trip, we were so inspired that we thought we could create that same effect here. In 2000, we purchased the farm and converted the century-old house into what is now the Emerson Creek Pottery Shop. Everyone that came to see us liked it so much they started spending the day on the porch enjoying the countryside. Some even started to bring their lunches out to relax in the country atmosphere and we realized there was a need for something more. With our imaginations stirring again, we renovated the old horse stables on the property in 2002 to create an even larger porch and seating area for people to enjoy their lunches. From there, Emerson Creek Tearoom was born and we have been serving delicious, home-made lunches ever since!

Soon after we got engaged, we took a look inside the barn and had a vision of our family and friends laughing and celebrating, watching the sunset over the fields, and music and laughter filling the air. It was then that we knew where we wanted to be married. Over the course of two years, we stripped the dirt and debris from the barn, hung vintage chandeliers, and added the stone patio to make this dream come true. In the fall of 2010, we were wed at Emerson Creek. We have now celebrated the commitments and marriages of many couples and could not be happier to share in the joy of their special days!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing in life comes easy, and starting and growing a business has never been a “smooth road”. Our idea and passion for Emerson Creek Pottery and Tearoom began by having a unique business plan that allowed us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Over the years, we have continued to learn that it is our customers that determine the direction of our business. They are the ones that continue to lead us to our next “big thing”. It has been essential for us to build customer loyalty and develop relationships with all of our guests. As our business began to grow, we needed to accommodate our customers’ new demand for personal experiences. We did this by requesting customer feedback for all amenities on the property and allocating personal time and effort to better understand their desires. Once this took place, we then transitioned into focusing on what our competition had to offer. It is important to embrace the competition and learn from their operational performances.

As we experienced growth, it was critical that we remained on budget and utilized our property and staff to their fullest potential. We understand the importance of employee retention and satisfaction; therefore, we always try to take an objective view when setting responsibilities and expectations for employees, ensuring they always feel a sense of accomplishment working on our property. Due to the fact that our property is an hour outside of Chicago and located in the middle of countless acres of farmland, it is not always easy for customers to locate us. However, it is seldom that our customers only visit our property once. Our attention to detail and customer care often leads to repeat visits followed by recommendations to their friends and family. Social media has been a huge help in marketing our business; however, advances in technology change on a regular basis and this isn’t necessarily a skill that I personally possess.

We have learned to adapt to building regulations and codes, alcohol restrictions, and are always finding new and creative ways to keep up with customer trends within our budget and building limits. Having your own business requires a lot of patience, you cannot expect instant gratification. I have learned that I must continuously seek creative ways to utilize buildings in every way possible, to grow the business, an example of this would be that we transformed our chicken coop into a bridal suite and office space. It is because of this that we open up our barn to customers for yoga events, quilting classes and charity events.

Although we have a beautiful location with several options for a relaxing day, it was important that we began to build property awareness among current and potential customers. We did this by developing social media accounts and reaching out to local, regional and national print and digital outlets to spread the word of our property and all it has to offer.

Emerson Creek Pottery and Tearoom – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Emerson Creek Pottery Shop offers a wide array of handcrafted gifts and accessories as well as our namesake hand-painted pottery. From artisan-crafted candles and beautiful, unique jewelry, to the ever-popular dinner and bakeware and locally made honey, each item in the shop is personally selected to offer a unique and original collection of merchandise. Whether you are looking to add to your collection of Emerson Creek Pottery or simply pick up a new handmade candle there is something for everyone at the shop.

Don’t let the word “Tearoom” fool you. We serve a full lunch menu that can fill even the heartiest appetites! We strive to offer the tastiest dishes at Emerson Creek, each prepared using the freshest ingredients and most quality food available. Our menu changes weekly to offer a variety of menu items to all of our returning customers. Our wedding venue features a one of a kind “Bridal Coop” for wedding day finishing touches, and our remodeled barn flows into a triple peak event tent flowing with chandeliers for your “Big Event.” A furnished, stone patio complete with two fire pits overlooks the countryside for guests to watch the sunset and enjoy the evening. Emerson Creek is set in a beautiful landscape, manicured to offer picture-perfect settings during our wedding season that runs May through early November. We pride ourselves on warm hospitality, excellent service, and fresh, delicious cuisine!

Our motto is “A pleasant return to simple days and simple ways.” Our goal is to provide a destination for all customers where they can enjoy a delicious, homemade lunch, shop and marry their soul mates. We have been told many times what a “gem” we are and we encourage everyone to come out and experience a day with us. There are certainly a great deal of wedding venues, restaurants and meeting spaces in the Western Suburbs of Chicago, but I believe that Emerson Creek stands out from the competition because of our “simple days and simple ways” mentality. Our venue offers a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life while offering up incredible food, beautiful housewares, and an unbeatable view.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I am a true believer in listening to the customer because they will let you know which direction you should take. Some of our earliest customers used to bring box lunches to enjoy on the property. They suggested that we should open a Tearoom, and that is exactly what we did in 2003. That first year it was only open one day a week with five tables: the next year we increased to two days a week; by the sixth year we were open five days a week. Today the Tearoom is open Tuesday through Saturday, where we serve lunch from 10:45 a.m. to 2: 00 p.m.

Watching our wedding business grow over the past seven years has made me so proud. When we launched the wedding business, we hosted less than ten weddings a year. In 2018, we are expecting to host over fifty weddings on our property. Our couples return each year on their anniversaries to enjoy lunch with us, and it is so wonderful to see how they grow together and grow their families. Due to our continuous relationship and love for our customers, we have had three couples name their children ‘Emerson’.

I’m most proud of the growth of additional on-site offerings for customers. We have transformed from our origins as a Pottery Shop, into a wedding venue, special events space, and Tearoom restaurant. Throughout this growth, we have become a property where a customer can spend an entire day between all of our entities. It is a truly humbling experience to see so many different people visiting our property on a daily basis, as well as our yoga events and Backroads Vintage Markets.

I am proud of all of my employees. We are a small business, so it makes me happy to see how they all support each other both inside of the workplace and out. To Dave and I, our employees are like family. Several of our employees have been with us for the past decade, and it makes me happy to see them professionally and personally grow within the Emerson Creek family.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5126 Stephens Rd
  Oswego, IL 60543
• Website: www.ecreekpotteryandtearoom.com
• Phone: (630) 554-7100
• Email: info@ecreekpotteryandtearoom.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emersoncreekevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmersonCreekPotteryandTearoom/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/emerson-creek-pottery-and-tearoom-oswego-4

Image Credit:
Joy Lyn Photography, Mark Trela Photography, Joy Lyn Photography, Joy Lyn Photography, Joy Lyn Photography, Joy Lyn Photography, Laura Meyer Photo, Joy Lyn Photography, Laura Meyer Photo, Laura Meyer Photo

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