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Friday, January 24, 2020 5 Brooklin Town Crier Connie Heron decided some time ago that the number 40 would be when she'd bow out of her ladies clothing shop on Baldwin that opened in 1980. "I had in my mind that I really didn't want to go past 40 years," she said a couple of weeks ago amidst the grand finale of an 'everything must go sale' along with wine and snacks. "I figured 40 years is a good long time. And I'm not getting any younger and you can't get your time back so I really wanted to spend more time with my husband and family." The highlights though have been plentiful. "The best thing has been the friends and people I've met. That'll be the hardest, not daily seeing people I recognize or could call by name. The other great things has been the moms with their little kids. That's been fun as well. On the whole customers have been amazing Great staff One faithful customer, Colleen Miatello, had been shopping at Connie's since it opened. "I've been In here a lot," she joked, adding that apparently she'd be getting a prize for best attendance. "You could always find something a little different. You won't ever see yourself walking down the street. You can pick out something that suits you and your body type. The staff here is amazing." What won't Connie miss? The work: nearly seven days a week of it. It's one of the vagaries of running a small business. "Anyone in small business is working a lot longer than what people really appreciate. Once you've walked out of the store after you've served customers all day, you still have bookwork, advertising, planning, There's a multitude of things you need to do. Up till two years ago, I did all my own books as well. "By the time you come in, get the merchandise product ready and constantly turning the store around...it's been a lot of physical and mental hard work." Time for family She and her husband Peter are building a new cottage in the spring. With grandchildren just four doors away, she'll now have time to get to their activities and perhaps do some travelling. "I'll probably sleep for a week." She owns the building, one of the oldest on the main street at over 160 years, and will soon put it on the market. And before shutting the doors, she offered one last fashion show, albeit with a few comical twists: A fully reversible dress - from Paris, she claimed A vegan leather jacket with penny loafers A model dressing in a tablecloth, complete with napkin rings And another sporting a 14 "carrot" necklace As she announced to throngs, which did include three men, "So many of you have been so amazing and have done fashion shows with me. Honestly it's been amazing, quite a ride." A Special BTC Feature One Last Fashion Show By Richard Bercuson