Changes are afoot at Peconic River Yoga, after founder and owner Kate Alesio announced plans to sell the business in her monthly e-mail.”
“After a long period of soul-searching and careful consideration, I have decided to retire from studio ownership,” Alesio wrote. ” I plan to continue teaching yoga classes and workshops, here on the East End.”
“It’s been a couple of years of thinking about it,” Alesio told northforker while sitting in her studio overlooking Main Road in Aquebogue. “It’s the same reason anyone would want to make a change, a bit of a simpler, slower pace. Even though it’s yoga, running a business is a big job.”
Alesio is hopeful that whoever buys the business will be just as into yoga as she is.
“My first desire would be that it be one of my senior teachers that takes over the operation of the studio. That is a possibility but I don’t have anything definite on that, so I am just talking to anyone who is interested. Ideally it’s someone who is a certified and experienced yoga teacher, that also has a mind for business. It could also be a business person who’s a yogi, but isn’t a teacher. Not every person who owns a business is the teacher in the business, but financially it’s better if it works out that way.”
Finances aren’t the only thing a potential new owner will have to deal with. Alesio admits the studio space may not last forever, though she says she has a good relationship with her landlord.
“The building is for sale and the landlord was approached about changing the lease for a new owner and he said he would raise our rent 70%, so it’s possible it could still be here if someone wants to take on the higher rent,” Alesio said. “This is our third location and if we had to move again, I think we could do it.
I don’t think the yoga community is the four walls you’re in, so if we have to move I think it’ll work out for the best,” she added. “Just in the day that I sent out that e-mail I’ve gotten seven or eight responses from people that are interested, so I think it’ll land in the right hands.”
Alesio says she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon; she hopes to stay on as an instructor and help the new owner.
“I’ll still be teaching here and I’d be happy to mentor or work with whoever takes over so that it’s a smooth process,” she said. “When I opened my studio one of my teachers was very generous with her knowledge. She showed me what to do and how to do it and I’d like to pay that forward as best I can.”
Peconic River Yoga is located at 740 Main Road in Aquebogue, NY.
For more information, visit their website
