The shutter goes down

At 6pm, Thursday, December 8, 2011, Barry locked the door of the shop, Elmwood Stores, and pulled the shutter down for the last time.  Even though Elmwood Stores has been there for many, many years, he has been the shopkeeper for nearly seven years. He has worked his ass off the past year and a half to try and keep things afloat...working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, but unfortunately, no amount of work would help the economy recover.  I don't think people understand the amount of blood, sweat and tears he poured into that wee corner store...the hours he worked and the stress he put himself through. I'm very proud of him for his hard work.

After much contemplating, he made the difficult decision to close the doors due to the poor economy.  It seems, especially over the past few months, the economy has gone from bad to worse and unfortunately, staying open was no longer an option.  It is happening everywhere in Derry...shops that have been open for YEARS are deciding to call it quits because there is no business.  How could there be when no one is working?  It's a bad situation and who knows how long it will remain this way.

I know Barry is sad to have to close and so am I.  The shop has been a big part of our lives and it bothers me that our baby will never know this part of his/her parent's lives.  After all, the shop inspired part of my book, Coincidence.  Although, in the book it was named something different, not Elmwood  Stores.  The publication of the book, led to this article in the Derry Journal.  Love in a corner shop indeed.  There was much love there.

The shop also made an appearance in our silent movie, The Wedding Train, which Barry and I made for our 1920s themed wedding.  When the deejay introduced us into the reception, we didn't go in.  Instead, we played this silent movie before entering as a surprise to our guests.

After filming our movie.

The shop was also a place where I was welcomed to Derry:

My first day in Derry after moving here back in March.  Our two wee neighbors welcomed me with flowers.

There are many more photos I could post here of the shop and the many ways in which we've celebrated some of life's milestones within it's walls, but I won't.  It's best to just say the shop has served us well and we're sorry to see it go. But, we know after one door closes, another opens.  So, hopefully, a door will open soon.

Here we are a few days before the doors closed, knowing they would be the last photos of us in there:

Goodbye Elmwood Stores.  Thanks for the memories!