The Brookswood business community will soon be without one of its long-standing landmarks.
After nearly 40 years in business Ella’s Clothes Closet is closing its doors.
From bell bottoms to skinny jeans, styles have come and gone — and come back around again — since Ella Little opened her boutique on 200 Street in 1976.
By last week, the racks were pretty much empty and the space filled instead with old newspaper clippings and memorabilia of both the business itself and of Little’s work in the community over the past four decades.
On Wednesday (June 17), once the boutique’s stock was all gone, the store’s fixtures and furnishings were auctioned off, with 15 per cent of the proceeds going to the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation.
The closure has “been an executed plan,” said Little, but it has played out quicker than even she anticipated.
When word got out earlier this spring that she would close, customers came flocking for their last chance to pick up a new dress or suit and to look through Ella’s famous sale racks one last time.
“This store has lots of stories,” said Little.
Women who shopped there as little girls with their mothers and grandmothers came back as adults to stock their own wardrobes.
“The way people have eased out our exodus has been very special,” said Little.
There have been plenty of tears shed and memories shared over the past several weeks, she said.
“Men have come in and thanked us for being here and for making their wives happy.”
None of it would have been possible, said Little, without a helping hand from her daughter, Carla Oberg.
“She’s supported me to live my dream and been there for me every step of the way — it’s a beautiful mother-daughter story.”
The shop’s closure doesn’t mark the end of the women’s business partnership.
“Carla and I are going to do trunk shows with one of our clothing lines,” said Little.
Little said she is also in talks with the museum about a potential display of vintage clothing.
In addition, she said, she is going to work with local jewelry maker, Karen Chopik, whose work Ella’s has carried for the past 15 years.
Chopik, who recently opened her own studio/gallery on the Langley-Surrey border, said plenty of tears have been shed in the community over the closure of the Brookswood boutique.
“Ella has supported the community from the beginning — she has supported every fundraiser,” said Chopik.
“She has been a champion of women’s events, she takes people under her wing and mentors them.
“She is an icon. We were so lucky to have her and to have that store.”
Chopik is thrilled that she will be able to continue to work with Little, now that the store has closed.
“I don’t ever want to lose touch with her.”