PORT ANGELES — Marilyn Lamb is looking for something new.
After 6½ years of offering gifts and women and children’s clothing for sale at Cottage Queen, 119 W. First St., owner Lamb is closing shop Saturday to focus on her passion for decorating and restoring antique furniture.
“I was always in to that,” Lamb, 50, said Friday.
Lamb said she also wants to take the opportunity to lessen her work load a bit and make room for other priorities.
“I tend to work too much,” Lamb said. “I need to slow down and have more time for family [and] charity [work].
“My body’s just telling me I need to slow down, and I’m trying to pay attention before something happens,” she added.
Slowing down, however, will mean anything but a full stop.
Lamb said she plans to restore furniture in a rented space underneath Sassy Kat Salon and Boutique, less than a block east of Cottage Queen.
“We’re actually going underground,” Lamb said.
She will work with others who will do similar work with older clothing, all in an effort to offer renewed and refreshed items for sale.
“All of us really like the idea of keeping things out of the landfill,” Lamb said.
Lamb, born and raised in Port Angeles, owned a business on First Street across from Murray Motors Inc., before she moved down the hill.
She had always wanted to get back into making older pieces of furniture more contemporary through new paint and upholstery.
Though the economic downturn has had a noticeable effect on downtown Port Angeles, Lamb said this did not contribute to her decision to close Cottage Queen.
“It’s personal, not [a] financial thing. It’s a personal issue for myself,” Lamb said.
“[There are] different reasons why people close,” she added.
“It’s not all doom and gloom.”
Allan Tuttle, the Sequim-based owner of Fountain Square Jewelers at 101 W. First St., announced earlier this month the jewelry store will close by the end of December after being in business since 2006.
This May saw the closure of Zeller’s Antiques on First when owner Don Zeller moved to Arizona.
A month later, Maurices, once across the street from Fountain Square Jewelers, closed and moved east to the U.S. Highway 101 Safeway shopping center.
Though the downtown seems to have its loyal shoppers, Lamb admitted it is tough for small businesses like hers to offer the same deals as larger stores.
“We can’t have Walmart prices,” she said.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.