Frowns abound as All Smiles set to close
All Smiles employee Amy Palmer operates the cash register as the business prepares for its final month of liquidation sales. (Photo by CAMERON RASMUSSON)
SANDPOINT — Next year promises to be a little more frown-filled as novelty shop All Smiles is closing its doors by the end of November.
A downtown staple since 1989, All Smiles provides a large variety of candy, party gear and gag gifts encompassing everything from bumper stickers and magnets to potentially blush-inducing bachelor party trinkets (tastefully shielded from underage eyes by a partitioning curtain). But now party-throwers and party-goers alike will have to find a new supply source.
Owners Terry and Nannette Porath announced at the beginning of October that they were preparing to close business doors.
“It’s really a shame that we have to close the business down,” Nannette Porath said. “We offer items here that you can’t really get at any other downtown store.”
Business closures might be distressingly frequent in the current economic climate, but the Poraths cite more positive reasons for All Smiles’ termination. Between their thriving screen printing business Print My World and their efforts in online merchandising, they simply had no time to manage All Smiles. Last year, they placed the business on the market but received no bites.
“With the economy the way it is, people are just too intimidated to buy a new business,” Porath said. “We were really disappointed that no one was interested in keeping the store going.”
The Poraths themselves are the third set of All Smiles owners in its 21-year history. They bought the store during happier economic times from Francis and Marsha Ogilbie, who in turn purchased it from founder Donna Deshon.
With no aspiring business owners interested in taking All Smiles into a fourth generation, the Poraths began the liquidation process on Oct. 15. They anticipate maintaining operation with new sales and mark-downs every week until late November, when Porath says they plan on closing the day before Thanksgiving.
“We want to thank the community for supporting the business all these years,” Porath said. “It really has been all smiles over here, and we’re sad to see it go.”