After 24 years in business, Perfect Season home and decor store will close its doors next month. Like her neighbor, the Mad Hatter, owner Regina Siefried has been struggling with continuously rising rent rates.  

“It’s just too expensive. Rent keeps going up while business is going down,” says Siefried. 

The owner did not want to disclose the rent amount but according to The Leader’s research, the common rate for commercial spaces downtown is $22 per square foot per year. 

This is Perfect Season’s sixth location downtown through the years.  

Ready to retire at 70, the store owner has built a local shopper base but notes that sales have not come back to pre-pandemic levels. Online shopping also puts a dent in revenue. 

That is the same reason why 1851 St., one block down from Perfect Seasons on Water Street, is closing. Not enough revenue. Lots of traffic but no buying.  

Having gone through the recession in 2008, Siefried says that she cannot afford to deplete her retirement fund one more time.  

When she could not negotiate a new lease that was comfortable, closing was the only option.  

While staffing is an issue for some businesses, Siefried explains that she is a one-woman show. She sources, hand-curates, buys, displays and works solo in the store since 2014.  

“I cannot afford an employee. It is a labor of love and I have had a great run of it despite the hurdles.” She says she is looking forward to gardening, traveling and enjoying her kids in town.