slideshow

After selling countless gifts and helping hundreds of brides, Hill Street House plans to close its doors for good, likely sometime in March.

The closure was announced last week to the store’s three employees and everything inside the business is on sale.

“It has been very rewarding to work in a business which makes people happy every day,” said Candy Buchan. Buchan’s parents, Jo and Dan Stark, started the business 23 years ago in the historic house that dates to 1849. The building will be put on the market for sale.

Buchan blames a general decline in sales and a slow economy for the closure.

The store at its zenith carried one of the largest selections of gift items for sale in LaGrange, with a number of brands that – at the time – were not available anywhere else in the area, such as Vera Wang, Kate Spade and Herends china. It also had the largest bridal gift registry in the area.

The store also was a popular site to purchase tickets to the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra, Lafayette Society of Performing Arts events and other local arts.

“That was a free service we provided we were happy to do,” Buchan said.

The store also catered to hundreds of brides who registered for gifts at Hill Street House.

“It’s super rewarding when you see the bride’s face as she finds just the right china pattern or the customer who finds the right gift,” she said.

Buchan said she’s grateful to the store’s customers who have become friends over the years and helped make Hill Street House a success.

“Our customers have been sad (to hear of the closing) and we are sad,” she said. “We’re going to hold the biggest sale in the history of the company with absolutely everything in the store on sale.”