A children’s consignment store in Kanata is closing on Jan. 31 after more than 30 years in business.
Sue Anastasopoulos has owned Three Bags Full on Hazeldean Road for the past six years and said it has been her passion.
“I know a lot about my customers. We have good conversations so it's sad,” she said. “I'm going to miss a lot of them.”
Anastasopoulos said she is closing up shop because her smaller business can’t compete with big box stores moving into the area, including Value Village in Stittsville.
“It's a fight to keep people interested in supporting small shops so that's been a lot of work and being a small business owner is very time consuming and having a child at home who has some special needs makes it difficult for me to commit to the fight I guess,” said Anastasopoulos.
“I don't know what else to call it, the fight to keep it open.”
In a way, her two kids have grown up in the store. Her daughter, Ellie, has contributed a wall full of artwork to the space.
In consignment stores, consignors get part of the proceeds and the rest goes to the store.
Both customers and consignors said they will miss going to the store.
“You get that personal service and you can come in and chat that you wouldn't get somewhere else,” said Amanda Archibald.
“It's not like it's cheap, run of the mill stuff,” said Susan Ditmar. “It's actually good quality which is a shame that they actually are closing.”
“She always has a good turnover of new items and it's always nice to see her friendly face whenever I come in,” said Cynthia Rand.
Sue said she’s not sure what is next for her, but said she is thankful for customer loyalty along the way.
“That's what I'm going to miss, the social part of it,” she said. “I don't get that feeling when I walk into other stores at all.”
Any items left in the store after Wednesday will be donated to the Ottawa’s Adult High School on Rochester Street.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Katie Griffin
