A popular clothing store has closed its doors for good after nearly three decades serving customers in the heart of Ladner Village.
It was back in late November when the McKnight family announced South Coast Casuals would be winding down their business after 28 years. It happened to coincide with Tracey and Bill celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and looking forward to retirement while their daughter Jill is now the executive director of the Delta Chamber of Commerce.
The past four months have seen a steady flow of loyal and casual customers dropping by to not only check out the clearance inventory, but also offer their best wishes to the family and staff members. A memory book was made available for customers to sign and write about their favourite store memories. Even just hours before the doors closed for good last Friday (March 31), customers were still coming in to say good-bye.
The store’s long successful run included expanding after five years when the adjacent hair salon vacated and an extensive renovation followed to create double the floor space.
“There is mixed emotions, but it’s come together the way we had hoped it would where we gave lots of notice, to our community, to our staff, to everyone so that it wasn’t going to be too much of a shock,” said Tracey. “We’ve enjoyed being in the community so much and working hard within the community, as things have progressed and changed over the many years.
“We’ve gone from having narrowed sidewalks to stamped ones with many new trees being put in. There’s just been so many positives. One of the reasons we located on a street front location was to be in a village and to have that interaction with people as they’re just out for their daily walks.”
The McKnights’ contributions to the community go well beyond operating their store, including leading many successful events, none more so than the immensely popular Ladner Village Market each summer. Although their retirement plans include travelling and more time with their grandchildren, they will still be actively involved with the market that is entering its 27th year in June.
It was local hairdresser Martin Hurst that came up with the idea of having an “English Market” and got a road permit from the city. The McKnights eventually took it over with what started as a Sunday merchant “garage sale” that kept on growing. There are more than 200 vendor applications already for this year’s market for about 166 spots.
