WORTHINGTON -- After 20 years in business, Roxanne Hayenga's feelings about closing Textile Treasures are bittersweet. She's excited to take on a new challenge, but she's also sad to leave behind the business she built from scratch and her many loyal customers.
The doors of Textile Treasures will close at the end of the year, and Hayenga will begin a job as program coordinator for Osceola County, Iowa, Extension. She and husband Steve and their two sons, Vance and Owen, live just over the Osceola County border, making it a convenient job move.
"In the back of my mind, I thought by the time my kids got to middle school, I'd have to do something different," she reflected. "This just came out of happenstance. I saw an ad for this position and applied and things just fell into place, so it seems like it was part of a bigger plan for me."
Hayenga was a young entrepreneur in her 20s when she decided to take a chance and open a fabric store in downtown Worthington.
"I got my sales tax number on Jan. 1, 1990, and then went to New York to buy fabric in February," she recalled.
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Over the years, the location of the store moved from one end of the 10th Street business district to the other and Hayenga expanded her store's offerings to include not only fabric, notions, patterns, custom sewing and alterations but also sewing machines and vacuum cleaners.
"I started selling sewing machines in 1999," she said. "It was probably one of the best things I did, because it opened up a new customer base with opportunities for classes and generating more store traffic. It's nice to be able to get your fabric where you buy your machine."
Hayenga stresses that her main reason for closing the store is to spend more time with her family, not because the store wasn't successful.
"It's not the economy," she stated. "This has been one of my best years ever. I just figured that a job like the Extension job would only come around once in a lifetime, and the office is only a mile from our house. ... Worthington gave me a nice business. I would highly recommend starting a business here."
While she won't miss the long hours that she put in at the store -- and working every Saturday -- Hayenga will especially miss helping people bring their textile visions to reality.
"I'm going to miss the creativity of it," she said, adding that she also considers many of her customers good friends. "It's a community, it really is."
Hayenga has already begun discounting everything in the store in order to clear out her current inventory. She's offering additional daily specials and discounts to people who become a fan of Textile Treasures on Facebook or send their e-mail address to textreas@gmail.com .
While alterations and custom creations are no longer available at the store, Hayenga is able to custom order fabric and material for people, although the discounts don't apply.
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She also continues to sell the Pfaff machines and will fulfill training obligations on those purchases.
"The doors will close at the end of December, but will be transitioning through January," she explained. "I plan to set aside time then to train people on new purchases. I'm also exploring an option to offer some classes."
Hayenga is also hopeful that other local merchants will fill the void and offer some of the products and services that she's provided, although nothing is yet finalized.
Each year, Textile Treasures has sponsored a Pajama Party, a one-day event during which pajamas are constructed for the Community Christmas Basket Program. Hayenga plans to continue that effort each year on the weekend before the Education Minnesota conference. She also has 500 hats made by volunteers that will be delivered to the local hospital for distribution to cancer patients.
Since Hayenga announced the store closing, people have been streaming through the door, looking for deals and to stock up on fabric and notions. Additional discounts may be offered as the closing nears, although many items are already as low as they will go, she cautioned. The rosebud fake furs and fleeces have been particularly popular.
"The selection has really dwindled in the last week," Hayenga said. "So the time to act is now."
Textile Treasures is located at 203 10th St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
