Colonial Woods-which opened in October 1994 and is located on Oxford Millville Road-is expecting to close by the end of February.
After 15 years of business, Oxford's last independent furniture seller Colonial Woods is closing its doors.
Owner Kelly Derickson said the decision, announced at the first of the year, is attributed to the national economic downturn and her husband's, Rep. Tim Derickson (R- Oxford), election to the State House of Representatives.
"Over a three or four year period, every year, our costs just kept going up and really, the public's ability to pay didn't increase," Derickson said. "The combination of the two things, really, I couldn't do it."
Derickson said she expects the store's final closing to come at the end of the month.
Junior Sarah Zawistowski said she will miss the familiar atmosphere of Colonial Woods.
"It's really cute and it reminds me of home because my mom loves stores like that," Zawistowski said. "There's a good variety of things."
Colonial Woods sells home furnishings, custom furniture and offers specialty wood finishing. Derickson said the store most appealed to women, ages 35 to 40.
Derickson said that after the store's closing, Oxford will be missing the appeal of a small, family-owned business.
"They'll (the customers) miss the therapeutic experience of shopping at a family owned business where they know the people and people know their name when they walk in." Derickson said. "All of us are closing, all the little guys are going."
Lisa Leishman, owner of You're Fired! Uptown pottery shop said the Derickson's and Colonial Wood's involvement in the community set the store apart.
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"They're really embedded in Oxford," Leishman said. "I don't think we'll stop seeing them after the closing but it makes me sad to think it'll be in a different way."
Leishman said the closing won't just impact Oxford citizens but the closing of another independent business will affect all Oxford business.
"I'm sure it'll have some kind of ripple effect through the community." Leishman said.
Derickson said that the closing of Oxford's small merchants leaves uptown filled with restaurants, catering to university students and shutting residents out.
"The community doesn't really have any where to go," Derickson said.
Zawistowski said she thought the customer service was better at Colonial Woods than anywhere else in Oxford. Derickson said she will miss the personal connections she felt with the regular shoppers.
Derickson mailed an announcement to 200 customers and said the most difficult part of closing was announcing the decision.
"That's been the hardest, the decision making with people coming in," Derickson said "But it's been the best too because you get to see them and you feel like you've made an impact on the community in a small way."
Derickson said she put off the announcement as long as possible to avoid changing buyer mentality and store atmosphere.
"That's a slippery slope-when to announce because the minute you do, you change the mentality of the buyer," she said. "I wasn't ready to do that any time sooner than I had to so I probably waited longer than I should have to tell people."
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