The Little Store in Richmond Beach will close September 30, 2025
Friday, September 5, 2025
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| The Little Store will close September 30, 2025 |
According to a letter they posted, the building is going to be remodeled, so the building owner was unable to offer them a new lease.
And because of the circumstances, they are unable to sell the business,
"So since we cannot sell the business and there is no chance of renewal (of the lease) after construction and there is no way out for us, it is with great regret that I make this announcement as we close the business with nothing to show for financially and very defeated emotionally."
"So since we cannot sell the business and there is no chance of renewal (of the lease) after construction and there is no way out for us, it is with great regret that I make this announcement as we close the business with nothing to show for financially and very defeated emotionally."
"Many of you brought your children and treated us like family, and we are truly grateful for the kindness and encouragement you've shown us. It has meant a great deal to us.
"We hope that we have been a great neighbor to you all and we know that as much as we love this community, you have loved us as well.
"Thank you so much for your support and for using our services. We will not forget any of you and hope to see you again someday. Please stay healthy and I wish you all the best in everything you do.
"The Little Store"
"Thank you so much for your support and for using our services. We will not forget any of you and hope to see you again someday. Please stay healthy and I wish you all the best in everything you do.
"The Little Store"
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41 comments:
First off I want to thank the owners of the Little Store for all the great years of service you provided our community thank you so very much. And wish you the very best.
Whatever gets built there should be boycotted.
This article and the communication around this news from many in the area makes it sound like nothing is going in this space. The building needs major work and new leasers will be moving in as soon as that is done. It will still be a “little store” - just with new owners and a clean updated and safe building. The new plans sound AMAZING! And it will still be a neighborhood hub.
I grew up with the Little Store. It was amazing when I was growing up I could buy candy and tell them to put it on the Lund Account. They did and I guess my mom paid. Loved the meat market and going into the ‘cold room’ with my mom to get food. 😪it breaks my heart that there will be another change from my childhood and growing up. The always knew the Lund name. Sigh.
Only 19 years under present ownership maybe, but there was a "Little Store" in that location in 1952 when I started Kindergarten at Richmond Beach School! Once again, "progress" rears it's ugly head...
I grew up (Now 72) running to the Little Store to buy candy. We all learned the words ‘put it on our account’ it breaks my heart they are closing.
This is sad news. As a local resident, this store has been part of the community. I for one would like the opportunity to try and encourage the owner to renew the little stores lease. if there’s a way we can do this please let us know.
This is just another case of progress being a bad thing. Was a new lease offered after the remodel? Is Richmond Beach just going to turn into a set of tall unaffordable apartments and strip malls.
This sucks. I've known the owner of the building "Al" for almost 50 years, and the owners of the business "Sun" and "Song" for almost 20 years. I know that change is the only constant in life, but Al didn't have to do this. Not this way, with this timeline and consequence
I think every neighborhood at one time had The Little Store
I remember ours in Crown Hill
Sad to see them go
I’m so sorry to read this. These folks have been so kind and nice to my grandkids. I love the “hello, welcome” when we came in each time. So sorry to see you go. All the best to you.
https://gofund.me/34dfefee
Here is the link to the go fund me that has been started. The money raised will go to the owners to show our thanks and support
I grew up in Richmond beach from 1963 to 1981 and the store was originally called Lambs Superette, we use to ride our bikes there to buy candy on Saturdays with our allowance. Great .emories!
Another loss of small town culture and a walking destination.
I am so sorry this has worked out this way. We will miss you. What a devastating outcome.
Oh man. This is horrible. Such great people and a fun place to shop!
I miss the musical get-togethers
Just a wild guess but I imagine it's going to be a ground floor business with 2 or 3 levels of apartments above it
So that store has been on that corner for alot longer then 19 years. That might be when the owners now purchased it from AL. But I have been going to that store since I was around 5 or 6. It was called Richmond Beach foods.
Very sad to hear this. I used to work there on Sundays to give the owners a day off. Great people, and a great neighborhood.
The building is an historic part of Richmond Beach. Was once an American Indian owned boat building shop before becoming a full-service store that even had an excellent meat market. Is very well built and should last "forever" as an historic part of the community. Why hasn't the City tried to preserve Shoreline's heritage?
We love you, Little Store! Big in our hearts!!
Heartfelt thanks to the little store owners for being fantastic neighbors and always treating every (especially our children) with respect and kindness even at times when the kids came up a little “short”. You will be missed. Thanks for being a terrific part of our community! I’m sorry this is occurring in a way that didn’t allow for a respectful transition.
I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to the little store owners for being a wonderful part of the Richmond Beach community for so many years. Their respect and kindness to our children even when our kids came up a little “short” was amazing. I’m sad that this transition did not occur in a more respectful way for them after being community members and lessee’s for so long…
I am sad to hear the historic building will be changed and that the current owners will no longer be able to own the Little Store. My children, now adults with children of their own, loved the Little Store. We called it that before it was officially named that. At age 10, it was a rite of passage to be able to walk there without parents. I hope they don't lose the historic feel and the convenience it provides our RB community.
We used to have one on 87th and eighth NW. s
Another food store is being put in. A posh one.
It’s the fact that the current business owners are not able to renew their lease or sell their business so after nearly 20 years, they are forced to walk away with nothing. That doesn’t sound “amazing”.
To be forced out with nothing to show for your years of work is a travesty. So sorry and sad for your loss.
Go support them -> NOW <- Buy whatever you can it all must go I spent bank this weekend buying stuff i really didn't need ...less they have the easier it will be on them to close out plus some cash in there pockets - Nothing more we can do except lighten the load
This store has been around since the 1940s (or earlier) my Grandmother shopped there when my Dad was a toddler. Jim Lamb didn't own the store until the 1960s.
This certainly isn’t amazing for the current owners. Too many changes happening and not for the better of the community.
Something doesn’t seem right. Read the letter posted by the owner. They have a lease through July 2026. If they are being forced out any time prior to that (for reason of remodeling or anything else other than a force majeure cause), don’t they have a cause of action against the landlord? Any contracts lawyers out there who can opine?
I've actually talked with one of the new tennants. She a neighbor of mine. Its her and a long time friend who grew up in the area. Just a couple moms fixing up and running a shop they grew up going to. No hostile take-over. No condo redevelopment. Locals doing local stuff.
Definitely something fishy here. Can the owner cancel the lease without offering it to be renewed since the lease doesn't expire until 2026?
It’s very sad to see this well-loved business shut down by the landlord. Time will tell if the new tenant is half as good for our community.
I believe Jim Lamb worked at the Tradewell at the top of Richmond Beach Road before he purchased the Little Store. I also grew up in Richmond Beach and hate to see all of the changes, but sadly it happens.
the good news is the site is not big enough to suppport a new 6 story generic box of apts with no retail at ground floor( which is apparently city hall's vision of what Richmond beach should be ) if they choose to demolish the existing building.
I hope there will be a chance to have a music jam session there before it is gone for good!
Change is also coming up by QFC. Not to mention the boarded up Rite Aid. Meanwhile, Edmonds is booming. Why the difference?
I loved this store when I lived in Richmond Beach in the eighties and nineties. Got to know most of the employees and even a couple of owners. Sorry to see it go, but change is always a constant in life.
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