Banana Belt to close this week…

Closing this week...

I dropped in on Moon & Jules at the Banana Belt last week, and they surprised me by telling me they will be closing this week, and have a sale to help note the occasion. I’ll be sad to see these positive, always-smiling folks move on – here’s the story from them:

Goodbye, Friday Harbor – from Banana Belt Boutique.

Jules & Moon, when they first bought the store...

After 17 years of serving “fresh styles to the isles,” Banana Belt is waving farewell to its friends with its biggest sale ever!  The entire store!  Literally!  (If you’d like to buy our store, see below).  This is your last chance to get screaming discounts on Oh Deer! Shoes, Anuschka hand painted wallets, distinguished Johnston Murphy and Deer Staggs shoes for men, Cutter & Buck classic styles for men and women, as well as many other famous brand names that forbid us by contract to tell you how low we have reduced their prices.  Hurry in to say farewell to Moon & Jules and get the deal of the decade on your favorite clothing and accessories.  We will be open 11:30 to 5:30 each day and will close for good sometime this week—unless we can pull a rabbit out of a hat, but it appears we’ve run out of rabbits with big pointy teeth!

And if you have been looking for a new venture, the store is for sale.  When Tacoma’s 425 Magazine came to the islands, we were the only boutique they featured in the town of Friday Harbor. “This upscale boutique is worth a visit because it offers items not found anywhere else…”

That has always been our secret: to create a special place that makes you feel special.  Our selections have always been unique but wearable in our island lifestyle and special events.  Many young ladies tell us they got their prom dress in our store; others smile and tell us they bought their wedding dress here; and dear Agnes gets misty-eyed as she tells us she met her husband here, in another era when fisherman danced on these floors.It’s a place of history.  It’s in the oldest commercial building in Friday Harbor.  It’s where the town began.

It’s also where every tourist coming to the island begins their shopping, where every car coming off the ferry has to pass our artistic window displays to enter the town.  And because Banana Belt’s history is so deep, hundreds of people tell us every summer its part of their vacation tradition to get something special in Banana Belt. And we’ve made it easy for them to do so with a wide range of unique goods in every price range.  It’s another secret to our store.  Customers say over and over, “You have something for everyone here.”  “You have the best clothing on the island.”  “You have the best store on the island.”  “You have the friendliest store on the island.”  And that’s when we smile, because we truly love nice people, and trust you have found that out if you live here.

Sadly, after we bought the store we were unable to sell our home on Lopez and the store can no longer carry our keeping a place on both islands.  So we are selling the store for exactly what we have in it:  $49,900, plus inventory.  In a good year, the store’s gross sales were just shy of $270,000.  This is not a good year, but you can still make a living from the store, and when the economy turns, so will the numbers.  We will only accept an immediate cash sale, no installments, and the sale price is non-negotiable.  Qualified buyers can contact us at 360-378-2722.  Please leave a message and contact number as we are very busy with customers and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

To all our island friends, we wish warmth, sunshine and happiness.  It has been our pleasure to make new friends, to share our creations with you, and to take care of your needs.  We wish you the very best!

Moon & Jules

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