HONESDALE -- A store that's been a fixture in downtown Honesdale Is closing.
For 75 years now the store on Main Street has been a gift shop. For most of those years, it was Kretschmer's.
Since the mid 1990's it's been Morning Glory Gifts.
All that is about to change.
Owner Kelly Birmelin has made the tough decision to close.
"For many years we've had our ups and downs, but in the past 5 years we've had more downs than we've had ups," said Birmelin.
Birmelin said she's seen a 50% drop in sales over the past several years. Part of that is the economic downturn. She also blames competition from online retailers.
Birmelin wholeheartedly believes a change to one-way traffic in Honesdale has only hurt business.
Longtime resident Nick Barna agrees.
"I'm very disappointed to see them closing they've been an institution there and the people before them, Kretschmer's," said Barna.
The owner of another gift shop in Honesdale, Sunflower Hollow, opened up in the last 2 years in downtown Honesdale, after the changeover to one-way streets. She says she's doing better at this location than she had at her previous location in hawley."
Gina Pritchard owns a consignment shop a couple of doors down from Morning Glory and was taking some of gift shop's racks.
Pritchard can remember when she was a child, Doris Kretschmer ran a popular gift shop at the location for decades. Pritchard said losing a gift shop is losing part of that hometown feel.
"You hate to see them empty, it feels like a loss, like something special is missing there."
Morning Glory Gifts is expected to close within about one month.