Don't tell Hayley Kuhn that the economy is improving.
"If the economy is improving, then I wouldn't be closing up this shop after 25 years," said Kuhn, 46, who opened Beauty and the the Best Boutique with her mother, Shirley.
This is the third location in Studio City for the shop, and it was in the Tujunga Village location (next to where the new Henry's Tacos is) for the past six years. They were once by the Paper Goose, once next door to Gelson's.
"We have one-of-a-kind things, all new, and all well priced," Kuhn said. "I think that people have a thrift shop mentality and won't pay a little more for something completely new."
Kuhn said she believes that people don't appreciate personal service anymore. "We are Americans, we speak English, we look at you when we talk to you," said the store owner, who didn't want to be photographed herself. "People do not value customer service anymore."
Internet sales and big department stores also have hurt small shops like hers. Kuhn's daughter Sienna was shopping online Wednesday while at the store with her mother.
The store has jewelry, dresses, purses, all sorts of knick-knacks. Now, it will all be 20 to 70 percent off until the end of the month when they close for good. The shop is opened Monday through Saturday.
"We have interesting things that we think people here will want," Kuhn said.
Kuhn, who has lived in the area most of her life, said she felt like the local residents didn't truly support her shop either. They would wander by, but her regular customers lived outside the area
She isn't sure what she's going to do next, but she won't go into retail again.
"I was devastated when the beauty supply shop next to Trader Joe's closed after 30 years," Kuhn said. "That was where I first worked when I was 16. If a place like that can't stay in business, I don't know."
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