After nearly four decades, Cloverdale91裸聊视频檚 costume rental shop Ye Olde Piggy Bank will soon shut its doors.

For co-owners Freda Mattern, 75, and Joanne Thompson, 72, 91裸聊视频渋t91裸聊视频檚 time.91裸聊视频�

If someone came in today and offered to buy the whole store91裸聊视频檚 stock, they91裸聊视频檇 be gone tomorrow, said Freda Mattern.

Their building has recently come under new ownership, she explained, and a rent increase has given them the extra push into retirement.

91裸聊视频淏oth me and my partner are in our 70s, and with the rent increase, it91裸聊视频檚 time,91裸聊视频� she said.

Mattern said she hadn91裸聊视频檛 been thinking of retirement, but she knows she 91裸聊视频渉as lots to do.91裸聊视频� She may teach sewing after the store closes. She is well-qualified 91裸聊视频� she has taken courses in dressmaking, designing, millinery, pattern making, draping and more 91裸聊视频� and over the years, she has created a good deal of the costumes that Ye Olde Piggy Bank has to offer.

Ye Olde Piggy Bank started out in 1982 as a crafts, antiques and collectibles store. When several other craft stores opened in Cloverdale, Mattern, a costume maker of many years, proposed they switch their focus to renting costumes.

91裸聊视频淚t was a slow process. We still had antiques and collectibles, it was just a transition from one to the other,91裸聊视频� she said.

Ye Olde Piggy Bank is named for the building91裸聊视频檚 origins. When it was constructed in 1912, it was the first bank in Surrey, the Bank of Montreal. It hasn91裸聊视频檛 been a bank since 1958, but certain reminders remain, such as the bank vault, which is now used as storage.

There are certain challenges to running a costume rental shop, of course. One needs to have what is popular and in demand, and in the needed sizes. Over the decades, Ye Olde Piggy Bank has amassed a huge variety of handmade costumes and vintage clothing.

91裸聊视频淵ou name it, we91裸聊视频檝e rented out for it,91裸聊视频� said Mattern.

91裸聊视频淥ne fellow rented a knight costume and he also went out to rent a horse and he proposed to his girlfriend. That was cute. That was nice.91裸聊视频�

The most popular costumes, she said, are from the Roaring Twenties or 91裸聊视频渨hat they call Great Gatsby now,91裸聊视频� medieval costumes, and period clothing from the 1950s.

91裸聊视频淲e have a lot of retro clothing all throughout the different eras,91裸聊视频� Mattern said. 91裸聊视频淲e have clothing right from the 1920s.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淲e also have a big black bear [costume] that people have rented to jump out of the bushes and scare their friends camping. It91裸聊视频檚 very lifelike,91裸聊视频� she said, laughing.

Ye Olde Piggy Bank is currently selling its costumes, rather than renting them. As for a closing date? Mattern said, 91裸聊视频淎s soon as we can.91裸聊视频�

What she91裸聊视频檒l miss most, she said, is Cloverdale itself.

Mattern has long been involved in the Cloverdale business community, not only as a business owner, but as a representative of the Business Improvement Association (BIA). She is a founding member of the Cloverdale BIA, and has served on the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce as well.

She is currently a BIA board member, and she said she hopes to find a way to continue to be involved in the business community after Ye Olde Piggy Bank closes.

One of the best things about being in business in Cloverdale for so long was seeing the community improve 91裸聊视频渃onstantly91裸聊视频� and being a part of that change, she said.

91裸聊视频淚t wasn91裸聊视频檛 much in the beginning, but it sure is now,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淎t one time Cloverdale was a rodeo parade. You had that one three-day weekend where everybody came to Cloverdale and then left to go to the fairgrounds.91裸聊视频�

Now, she said, a point of pride is the variety of events that take place throughout the town centre, all through the year.

Ye Olde Piggy Bank is located on downtown Cloverdale91裸聊视频檚 main street, at 5683 176 Street.

editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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