Birdhouse on Main Street and Silken Wool Say Goodbye to Madison

Bird and backyard lovers have until Sept 30 to shop at , 266 Main Street, where everything is half-off because the store is closing.

Bobbie and Bill Schoenebaum moved their business from Montclair 10 years ago and settled six years ago into the current location, a converted single-family residence that has the look of one of the many birdhouses they sell.

It was the perfect location with plenty of back parking until the economy tanked three years ago. They noticed a drop-off at Christmas that year and then the next. “You know when you’re in retail Christmas is important,” said Bobbie Schoenebaum, minding the shop. Now, rents are just too high, she says.

With store business consistently off as muc as 40 percent, the Schoenebaums will continue to do business online particularly since they are known for their bird seed, sourced in Pennsylvania. “The seed is very fresh,“ said Bobbie.

With all items 50 percent off, there are some bargains to be had for the backyard naturalist. How about a nature cam, a small video camera  that can be installed in a birdhouse and live-streamed right to your television? Currently at $90, you do the math.

A Kozy Bird Spa heated birdbath was $150, now half. Two pairs of Wheel House socks regularly retailing for $9.50 are half, both pairs with finely knitted birds. There are Audubon compact binoculars at $80, now only $40.

The biggest item is a black baby grand piano parked in the entrance. It’s a Behning, probably from the middle of the last century and in really good shape, said Bobbie. At the Main Street shop, she taught watercolor classes in an underground studio. Her son had all kinds of music lessons available on the second floor.

It’s not out of the question that the Verona couple may open a store again. They found like-minded people here in Madison what with three colleges, the Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center, The Raptor Trust nearby and a citizenry that makes it “an environmentally conscious type of area.“ But the borough is tough to stay in because “the cost of doing business is outrageous,“ she said. Landlords are not looking to lower rents in an economy that has gone “downhill ever since,” the great crash of October, 2008.

At at 6 Green Village Road in the James Building, packing was feverish Tuesday. For five years, owners Behrooz and Sussan Ghorbanian sold fine imported Iranian (Persian) rugs and other home décor items, priced from $20 to $20,000, said Sussan.

But the economy once again has made it difficult to rely on support from one town and the couple hope to open a store in six months at the Short Hills Mall, she said. They also have two other stores in the region and are online at www.SilkenWool.com.

“We have nothing but goodwill for Madison,” said Sussan. “But nobody walks down the street anymore.”

Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said Madison’s vacancy rate is only about 1 percent, although there are no current figures of what retail square footage is available. Rents range from about $18 to $30 a square foot, said Jim Burnet, the borough business manager.