p e n g u i n d e v i l

Mabel’s

Well, Monday winds to a close. It was the first day in 3 and a half years that we haven’t had to ponder our shop, because it closed on Sunday. The liquidation week went about how we expected and we ended up with only one basket of yarn left. These years have gone by like a slow up and down road, filled with wonders and trepidation and friendships, through it all.. Fittingly, we have mixed feelings about this turn of events, but the options had run dry. Currently we are wavering between feelings of loss and relief as, depending on the moment, Mabel’s had felt like either a beloved newborn or like the prodigal son returned. Either way, Caitlin formed it with her own bare hands and we loved the place. No, it isn’t all gone, we still have the space, the staff and ideas, but still. Three and a half years is a long time. A long time to worry and plan and hope and work and teach and learn. I know I will treasure these memories, good and bad, and all of the wonderful people we have met (I don’t think I could even begin to count them…) and my two Mabel’s t-shirts for the rest of my years, easily. But as the market got saturated and the “hipness” maybe wore off a bit, the stress of running a business whose sales aren’t exactly increasing is a terrible and stressful thing. Owning a store is like a child, you created it and you are responsible for it and when the age comes that you have to back away, it brings on feelings of loss, even if it is, in the long run, for the better.

CafeMama had, I thought, a nice post about this, Of Yarn and Loss. It reminded me of all the memories that Mabel’s had for me and Caitlin and for the hundreds of customers who came to rely on Mabel’s as a member of the community. I feel for her ending comment, too. Though we feel positive about the future for us and the business, it still seems unreal and quite sad, but yarn had gone from a love, a community center and a business, to something less positive. Now I hope that Caitlin can knit, worry free, as she did for nigh on twenty years before Mabel’s. While it broke our hearts to have to do this (though we are quite excited about the future plans), a 40% drop in sales over two years is something that a small business really cannot modify itself enough to be sustainable, no matter how we tried to keep it going. Once owning a business is actually costing you money, something different has to happen.

Anyway, I know this isn’t exactly my standard post. But Caitlin and I have been together for four years and one of the most prevalent aspects of that has been running this business. Even with our plans to use the space for something else, it feels like an unwanted divorce. Not just from the business, but from the community that were involved in it. We hope to continue on as before (just without yarn for sale, and more food!), but it is like losing part of ones identity. Anyway, I am feeling in a mopey mood about it all, so here are some little pictures from the old, early days..

Mabel’s Inside

Mabel’s Cafe

Mabel’s Yarn

My sweetie, at her yarn counter