With Sundial Shop closing, neighbors wonder about downtown's identity

Since Warren Clement announced this week that he'd be closing the Sundial Shop, a downtown landmark business for the past 37 years, his customers and neighboring merchants have been wondering what Main Street will be like without the store, its idiosyncratic employees and its one-of-a-kind owner.

The Sundial Shop will remain open while Clement liquidates his inventory. After he closes, he plans to continue being one of the city's most active residents and to find a job that will allow him the luxury of a weekend off.

For LouAnn Darling, a 10-year employee of the the store, the thought of the store going away is "sad, very sad." She said the store, which sells books, greeting cards, gifts, coffee and baked items, serves as a meeting place for city residents. "Especially in the winter, a lot of the locals will come in for a few hours, just to catch up."

The place was busy yesterday, filled with shoppers who were hoping to find a liquidations sale bargain while also indulging in their sentimental side, returning to the store one last time.

Kathy Calvin was one of the shoppers. As someone who works downtown, she said she has been frequenting the store since she moved to the region 20 years ago. For her, the shopping experience is as much about the people behind the counters as it is about the wares on the shelves. "I come to LouAnn and ask, 'What books do I want to read?' I've been counting on her expertise."

Next door, at LaBelle's Shoe Repair, owner Jan Boudreau said it's another kind of expertise that she'll have to do without, the decades of experience Clement has, experience which he has shared with her since she bought the business six years ago. "I'm going to miss him tremendously. He's been a great teacher," she said. When the business is gone, she said, "we're really losing a landmark there."

For Dot Steuer, owner of Whittemore's Flower Shop, the Sundial Shop and its mix of quirky, caring characters is the perfect example of what endeared her to the city when she and her husband purchased the business in 1971, having relocated from New York City. "There was always such a bond. You knew all the people who worked in the stores, it's almost like a family. It's so sad to see that go."

It's been difficult for her to come to terms with the changing landscape of downtown. Often, she said, she'll start out the door to run across the street to pick up an item at Bloom's Variety store, another landmark business that closed in 2008. "It was not just the convenience... it's the idea that you're going to see people you know."

The interactions she has with Clement and his staff can't be replicated by an anonymous, modern franchise, she said. When she would see Clement walking down the street, she would ask if he's making coffee deliveries, a request he would invariably oblige. And Steuer, who said she would never dream of ordering unhealthy foods, said his staff knew to give her a sinful cinnamon bun when she ordered a bran muffin. "Just in case God is watching, he knows I asked for bran."

Instead of behaving as adversaries or competitors, Steuer said Clement is an example of a merchant who understood that downtown businesses should act as teammates. "You're always better when you're surrounded by people you like, work with and cooperate with. Downtown always did that," she said. "It might be old-fashioned but it was fun."

Randy Bullerwell, owner of All My Life Jewelers and president of the Belknap Independent Business Alliance, said he'll miss, on a personal level, the personalities behind the Sundial Shop. "Other than Warren and the girls, the biggest thing we'll miss is the traffic," he said. From a Main Street businessman's perspective, he recognizes that the Sundial Shop, the downtown's only independent book store, brought people downtown who later found their way into his and other stores.

"I'm happy for Warren... he has been one of the most active people on the street, he deserves to retire," Bullerwell said. Those remaining on the street will have to find a way to fill his shoes, he noted, and was optimistic that the closing of the Sundial Shop could ultimately lead to a new era of prosperity for downtown. There has been discussion lately about turning the massive former Bloom's storefront into a culinary center of sorts, and there's been excitement about a farmer's market which will be held on Main Street on Thursday afternoons starting on June 3. Paraphrasing Gary Bloom, Bullerwell said, "We need feet on the street, that market will do that."

Ana Gourlay, owner of Sunflower Natural Foods, said she can be counted as one of the merchants who'll be sad to see the Sundial Shop go. "He has always been absolutely wonderful to me," she said.

"He's such an icon, such a fixture, it marks the end of an era. It's definitely going to be a transition in the face of downtown."

"I certainly wish Warren well," added Gourlay. "He's been so helpful and supportive to anyone who reaches out to him."