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Auction Set at Former Parlett's LocationThursday, May 19, 2011 A large auction sign hangs in the empty New Town location that used to house Parlett’s, a decades-old local gift and stationery business. The auction sign is the only outward signal that the business, founded in 1963, has run into recent financial trouble that has resulted in the business moving and reopening under a new name, while items left inside the previous location are to be sold off to the highest bidder.The Hill family, who owned Parlett's, could not be reached for comment this week. On Friday, the former Parlett's will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for an auction preview. According to Mid-Atlantic Auction's website, thousands of items will be sold at the creditor's request Thursday, May 26 at 9 a.m. to the highest bidder. Among those items: stationery, paper, greeting cards, scrapbooking supplies, gift items and more. Also included is restaurant and cafe equipment, furnishings, appliances and inventory. All for sale is advertised as less than two years old. Click here for a full list of the auction items. The well-known shop was started in Merchants Square by Ruth and Bill Roberts in 1963. In 1985, the Roberts’ daughters Sue Hill and Jacquelyn Sunderland took over the business. Eventually Parlett’s expanded to open a second store across from Monticello Marketplace on Monticello Avenue. Both stores closed about the time Parlett’s moved to New Town, just beside Legacy Hall, in 2008. The new location featured an adjacent coffee shop and cafe, which closed about a year ago. According to county records the corner storefront was purchased for $1.1 million in April 2008 by a company established by the Hill family. Parlett’s Paper Expressions, a new business started by the Hills that also specializes in stationery and gifts, opened in the shop next door in September 2010, and Parlett’s customers were directed there to shop by large signs in the store window. In February this year, the original Parlett’s New Town location was purchased by UB Properties for $566,700, half the price paid for it only three years earlier, according to county records. On April 7, the court ordered the Hill family to pay Union Bank $142,647.64 plus interest for defaulting on a loan. UB Properties, which has a Union Bank address according to SCC records, arranged for the auction. Items will be sold to the highest bidder and a buyer’s premium of 10 percent will be added to the bid price. |
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Comments
When you can buy their same product plus more wonderful personalized materials online, A)at a fraction of cost, B)with much more variety, C)with ability to see exactly what items look like customized instantly - who would think that old business model would survive?!?
Now all the unique finds and the great collection of trinkets they USED to carry, as mentioned, that inventory was successful and distinct.
Sorry to see them go, but evolve or dissolve. If you're not moving forward in business, you're typically being forgotten.