Lake Avenue Craft Boutique to Shut Doors

After six months of business, the crafty corner shop will shut its doors on Sunday.

The scrap-booking and creative boutique opened in May in the North Lake District.  The store is discounting its merchandise by 50% as they prepare to close.

The closure was spurred by the owner Karen Myers' recent move to Running Springs.

For Myers, the weekend commute from Running Springs in the Lake Arrowhead region to Altadena proved to be too much.

"I hoped I could handle the commute but with 150 miles round trip, I just couldn't do it," Myers said.

"Everyone is trying to be green. I don't want to drive that much anymore, I've been commuting for ten years," she said.

The choice to close the boutique came from a personal decision and was not a result of the economic downturn, according to Myers.

"Because I couldn't be there six days a week, I felt disconnected from the store. It was like a message telling me, okay let's do something else," Myers said.

She plans to focus on her online business cashbackfever.com, a web portal where consumers can find retailers for various needs. Those retailers in turn give a portion of the purchase back to the customer.

"Internet is the way of the future for businesses and everyone is looking for deals these days," Myers said.

The closure of the business follows on the heels of several other North Lake area businesses.  A neighbor of KatScrap studios, the , is scheduled to close down by the end of the year.

KatScrap Studio customers have been shocked at the news of the store's closure. For many, a scrap-booking store in the Altadena community was a great treasure.

Lindsy Perez was visiting the store for the third time Saturday and was disappointed by the news.

"I was really happy to have discovered the store. It's such a shame," Perez said.

Myers, who grew up in the area promises that the store closure will not be a final good bye. She plans to keep in touch with the customers on her mailing list and hopes to hold monthly weekend workshops. The studio also plans to keep its design team involved in the community and continue their artist trading card club swaps.

Myers is bittersweet about leaving the community but feels that this could be an opportunity for change.

"I'd love to see Altadena thrive and get better. There's room for improvement," said Myers.

"I wish everyone well and I won't be a stranger."