A family-run vintage shop is closing due to spiralling costs and a lack of footfall.
The owner of Forget-Me-Not Vintage and Dollshouse, in Gravesend High Street, says she has been “priced out” as she faces ever-increasing utility bills and rents.
Sarah Cheshire, who has owned the store for six years, said the issues first started last year as she noticed the footfall was falling so reduced the shop’s hours to three days a week and took on another job.
But the doll shop owner said other factors played a part, such as the closure of the nearby market car park for The Charter to be built, the area being pedestrianised, and changes in people’s shopping habits.
However, now the Tilbury Ferry has stopped running she has noticed a significant drop in customers and cannot keep the business open.
The mum added: “I just cannot afford to continue. I am not covering the bills.
“I always thought as long as it could keep itself going I would keep it up as I was never in it to make money.
“I have done it because I enjoyed it and it has been a paying hobby but it is no longer viable.
“It has just been one thing after the other, making it hard for small businesses like ours to survive.
“The last straw was the ferry, that was the final nail in the coffin. We just lost so much trade.
“I cannot continue. I know people are trying to bring the ferry back but I cannot sit here waiting for things to happen.
“You just cannot keep hoping for things to happen, not when you are a business.”
The boutique in the High Street sold vintage items such as clothes, jewellery and posters and was well-known for its dollhouse restorations.
Sarah added: “I love this High Street so much, I have been here a long time and there is going to be nothing left soon.
“It is really tough for small businesses to survive. If the big ones like Wilko and Debenhams cannot make it, we have no hope in hell.
“I do not want to give it up, I love what I do and I have worked so hard for it.
“It is sad but I feel like I cannot fight anymore.
“We have been well supported and made some lovely friends but all good things come to an end. We are going to miss everyone.”
Forget-Me-Not Vintage and Dollshouse’s last day will be tomorrow (June 8).
However, Sarah will be continuing her restoration and running an online store at a small studio in Northfleet.
It is the second business to announce its closure in Gravesend this week with independent music store Elephant Music also shutting its doors.
Bosses of the store in Harmer Street said it was the “result of a steady downturn in business” over the last few years and the sale of the building.