<\/p>\n
After nearly 60 years selling high-end men\u2019s clothing, property and business owner Dennis Johnson has decided to close Stuart\u2019s of Durango and place the building at 713 Main Ave. for lease at $5,500 a month starting in mid-September.<\/p>\n
The building is the latest to join a healthy number of vacant properties, either for lease or sale, on Main Avenue, some of which have been available for months.<\/p>\n
Vacancies on Durango\u2019s main strip tend to spring up in rough economic times; at one point during the recession in the early 1980s, 17 Main Avenue buildings were vacant between fifth and 14th streets, according to The Wells Group broker John Wells.<\/p>\n
Vacant inventory on Main is not unusual, but the sweep of closed businesses in recent years, from the former Francisco\u2019s restaurant \u2013 which has recently been reconfigured and leased to three new tenants \u2013 to the Lost Dog Bar & Grill, emphasizes several points to local real estate agents who know the Main Avenue market.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that one of the biggest reasons that you are seeing vacancies on Main is the \u2018end of an era\u2019 in the case of businesses like Francisco\u2019s and Stuart\u2019s, to name a few,\u201d said Jerome Bleger, president of the Durango Area Association of Realtors. \u201cBoth of those were institutions of Main Street Durango, but because no one in the family was able to, or had the desire, to continue on the business in the stead of the particular business (they closed.)\u201d<\/p>\n
Stuart\u2019s, an upscale men\u2019s clothing retailer, is coming up on its 57th anniversary, and Johnson, now 81, has decided to move on to other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to have a retirement \u2013 what a concept,\u201d Anna, Johnson\u2019s wife, said. \u201cMy husband is in his 80s. I\u2019m in my 70s, and there is no way to pass (the business) down. It\u2019s just a little too much for us to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sale of Stuart\u2019s merchandise began Thursday and will continue for about four or five weeks, Anna Johnson estimated.<\/p>\n
She said she hopes future tenants are \u201cresponsible to the community\u201d and want to serve it in the same way Stuart\u2019s did.<\/p>\n
Wells, who is managing the property, said the building was listed for lease just days ago.<\/p>\n
The 2,875-square-foot space has a rear entrance and curved front entryway. Because of the apartment units on the second floor and low ceiling height at the rear of the building, the space would not be conducive for restaurant use.<\/p>\n
Like many existing structures on Main Avenue, the building has historic merit.<\/p>\n