Max Sorensen (right) and his wife, Susan Lin, stand in the foreground of landscape photographs for sale at Cooler by the Lake Photo Gallery & Aromatherapy in Madison Village. All of the photos were taken by Sorensen, an avid photographer. Sorensen and Lin opened Cooler by the Lake, located at 104 W. Main St., on May 23. Cooler by the Lake consists of two commercial businesses that share display space within the store: Sorensen’s business, Focus on You Photo Gallery, and his wife’s product line, Susan Lin Collection Aromatherapy. (Bill Debus – The News-Herald)
A husband and wife have combined their talents to open a new store in downtown Madison Village.
Max Sorensen and Susan Lin are the owners of Cooler by the Lake Photo Gallery & Aromatherapy. The couple opened the business on May 23.
Sorensen and Lynn launched their new business about two years after retiring as longtime owners of Wagon Wheel Bar and Grill in Madison Township, they sold the business, located at 1388 Hubbard Road, to the new owners.
For many years they also owned and operated the former Spinnaker’s Sports Lounge, which was adjacent to the Wagon Wheel.
“We’ve been doing this (Wagon Wheel and Spinnakers) for 34 years,” Sorensen said, “and it’s been great years. I have so many great memories and met so many great people. But it’s time to move on.”
Cooler by the Lake is made up of two commercial businesses that share exhibition space within the store: Sorensen’s own business, Focus on You Photo Gallery, and the other is his wife’s product line, The Susan Linn Collection Aromatherapy.
“When people come in, of course we offer tutorials on both sides,” Sorensen said.
The Susan Lin Collection Aromatherapy uses a variety of essential oils in items created by Lin, including soaps, lotions, neck wraps, linens and body sprays.
According to clevelandclinic.org, aromatherapy is the use of essential oils to improve a person’s health and well-being.
Lin said she started making aromatherapy products about 25 years ago when she went back to school and became a qualified massage therapist.
“So I got massage therapy and aromatherapy at the same time,” she said.
Although Lin no longer works as a massage therapist, she continues to handcraft aromatherapy products, which she has sold online and in person for many years.
Popular scents from Cooler by the Lake’s Lynn aromatherapy items include lavender, rosemary and mint, fresh rose, and warm vanilla sugar.
The Focus on You photo gallery features a collection of landscape images taken by Sorensen, who is an avid photographer.
Sorensen said he discovered his love of taking photos when he took a photography class in college about 50 years ago.
“I’ve been building up my camera collection over the years,” he says, “and I switched to digital cameras a few years ago and bought a Nikon, but the reality is that most of these photos (in the gallery) were taken with my smartphone.”
Photographs of various sizes for sale in the gallery include Lake Erie sunsets, daytime waterfront shots, agricultural landscapes and lighthouses.
Customers who purchase Sorensen’s photographs can have them mounted in a variety of mats and frames, which Sorensen handles entirely.
Cooler by the Lake is located in the building formerly occupied by JC’s Nifty 50’s Diner. The location in downtown Madison Village has been vacant since the restaurant closed several years ago.
Sorensen leased the building, and as part of the lease, he paid for an extensive interior renovation, including replacing floors and ceilings and adding millwork to some of the walls. Sorensen also gutted the restaurant’s kitchen and converted it into a workshop for making Cooler by the Lake products.
Sorensen installed an eye-catching purple awning with the store’s name on the outside.
Sorensen said the idea to start a new business in the vacant storefront was suggested to him by his wife in February.
“One day, Susan and her friend were driving down West Main Street in Madison Village and saw the awning for Nifty 50’s Diner, and Susan said, ‘Wouldn’t this be a great place for a storefront?'” he recalled.
After further discussion, Sorensen began incorporating some details into the business plan he had already put together. He eventually contacted the building owner and, after several discussions, agreed to the terms of the lease.
Sorensen said Cooler by the Lake’s first three weeks of operation have been successful.
“We have a lot of people coming in,” he said, “and maybe not buying anything, but then we’ll have maybe a half-dozen people come back later and say, ‘You know what, I want that (specific item)’, so we’ve had a really good response from the community.”
Sorensen said he also plans to attract out-of-town visitors by placing brochures and other promotional materials at Madison Village businesses, including hotels such as the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express and Suites on Water Tower Drive and the Love’s Travel Stop and Sheetz convenience store and gas station at the interchange of Interstate 90 and Route 528.
Sorensen also plans to explore ways to promote Cooler by the Lake through Geneva’s SPIRE Academy, which hosts sporting events and tournaments that draw athletes and fans from around the country.
“There’s a lot of marketing to do right now,” he said.
Cooler by the Lake Photo Gallery & Aromatherapy, located at 104 W. Main St. in Madison, is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to its Facebook page.
