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After 136 years, luggage and leather goods retailer T.W. Rounds is packing its bags for good.
Unable to continue competing with the malls and hurt badly by the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Warwick-based company is shutting down a business which at its peak had 11 locations in New England. The stores are expected to close next month.
Owner Jim Myers said business had been difficult for the past decade, but the fact that people are more reluctant to travel now is what made up his mind that he could no longer make a living selling luggage. “The climate between the Wrentham outlets and Providence Place has simply made it unlivable to operate a small specialty store, especially in travel,” he said. “And after September 11, the business just dropped by half.”
Myers’ grandfather bought T.W. Rounds in 1941. Years later the location moved from Washington Street in Providence to Wayland Square. The Newport location has operated since 1961, and the Warwick location for the last 14 years. The employees in the Wayland Square location said they didn’t anticipate the store’s closing.
“We all feel very sad,” said sales clerk Sally Greenberg. “I’ve been here for 34 years.”
“When you’re here so many years you become friends with the customers and we’re going to miss that,”said Pat Farias, another sales clerk of over 20 years.
Myers said he had been contemplating getting out of the business for the past year and a half, but only made the decision recently.
“After Thanksgiving when I saw how sales had not really improved I knew I had to do it,” he said. “I have people working for me who have been there over 30 years and I did not make this decision lightly.”
Myers said he plans to concentrate more on business online with his company StylusCentral.com, and a site coming online next year called Eframes Central.com. The sites specialize in palm pilots and digital frames, respectively.
