After 14 months of selling used clothing, books and furniture, a downtown Gainesville vintage and resale store closed its doors Saturday afternoon.
Loren Keldsen, co-owner of The Eclectic Co. Vintage & Resale Shop, said time and money were the motivating factors behind the store closing. Keldsen owned the store, 103 N. Main Street, with his wife, Anna Keldsen.
He said keeping the shop open and finding new items to sell became time-consuming for him after his wife started working a full-time job at Nationwide Insurance.
This fall was slow for business, and the holidays were even worse, he said.
“We can’t afford to put more money into the shop,” he said. “It has to pay for itself.”
Kelsen said Holy Trinity Episcopal Church purchased the building in December, and the church plans to use the old building for its youth service program.
In the meantime, he’ll either keep leftover store items or donate them to Haven Hospice. He will donate old books to Friends of the Library.
Keldsen said he plans to move to New Jersey to assist the Hurricane Sandy disaster relief and work with a Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor in the organization’s public assistance program.
Keldsen said local artists usually gathered at the store to share their creations and make extra money. They will now have to start selling their pieces elsewhere.
Pat McCarthy helped run the store in exchange for space to sell homemade food items, photography and jewelry with her husband. She said she’s disappointed the shop closed.
“It was one of those bad things that just didn’t catch on fast enough,” she said.
