Hidden Gate closes after 15 years

EAST COUNTY —  As Barbara Diederich and LeeAnn Pettis walk through their store, Hidden Gate Gifts, their smiles hint at a mix of emotions.

The store bustles with activity as ladies — most of them regular customers — peruse white-washed hutch cabinets and displays lined with Vera Bradley purses, floral arrangements and items Deiderich and Pettis hand-picked for their customers.

But the shoppers are here because merchandise is 30% off.

The discount will increase in the coming weeks as Deiderich and Pettis prepare to close their store and the chapter of their lives as small business owners.

While The Shoppes at University Town Center — the plaza in which Hidden Gate Gifts is located — has grown busier since larger retailers, including Pier One, Jo-Ann Fabric and Marshalls, among others, have moved in, Hidden Gate’s sales slowly have declined.

“We have not been able to compete,” Pettis said with a shrug. “We’re getting hit from all sides.”

Deiderich and Pettis say they have no intention to stop progress. But the reality, they say, is that the retail landscape is changing, and stores like theirs now have little means by which to survive.

“It’s becoming more of a commodity than uniqueness,” Diederich said with a shrug.

Mom-and-pop stores, such as the Hidden Gate, historically have established themselves by introducing new product lines — such as Bunnies by the Bay —to their consumers well before they gain momentum in larger retail markets.

But that business model, Diederich said, is gone.

“You have less personalized introductions to products on the Internet,” she said. “The box store is changing (retail). It’s like a showroom.”

At one time, product lines, such as ROOT candles, now sold at Fresh Market, were reserved for smaller businesses.

Deiderich and Pettis’ experience selling Vera Bradley depicts the epitome of the change. Hidden Gate became Vera Bradley’s first gold store in the area, meaning it carried the company’s entire product line.

But in 2010, Vera Bradley began selling products online, offering them at a discount to customers, even though the retailers it supplied were not allowed to do so. At Christmastime, the company opened a pop-up store in Ellenton that remains open through this month. And, now, the company is rumored to be opening a flagship store in the Mall at University Town Center.

Pettis called Vera Bradley and brand names such as Brighton and Pandora Hidden Gates’ “meat and potatoes” items that generate the bulk of their revenue. That revenue allows the store owners to take risks on introducing new brands, such as Bunnies by the Bay, to their customers.

“We can take the recession. We can take the Internet,” Diederich said. “But, we can’t take when our core product lines move to the new mall.”

Pettis added: “It’s taken us a year to get to this point (of closing). We love our customers.”

Mark Chait, director of leasing for Benderson Development, the company that owns the plaza, said Hidden Gate has been a wonderful tenant and he considers the business a success story, despite the closing. Hidden Gate Gifts survived the recession and has established itself as a high quality gift retailer, he said.

He also said he believes small businesses can succeed in the current retail market, as demonstrated by other family-owned businesses in the plaza, such as Indian restaurant Tandoori Sarasota.

“The one constant in retail is change,” he said. “Stores always need to reinvent themselves. The nature of retail has changed with the Internet, but brick-and-mortar stores are thriving. I truly don’t think that’s changed. There is a place for local retailers.”

Chait added Benderson prides itself on the mix of retailers it has in its plazas.

Following Hidden Gate’s closure, Diederich and Pettis will take a break from business ownership.

Diederich, an accountant, will resume full-time work in the industry. Pettis, who previously worked as a paralegal, plans to pursue another career, although she doesn’t know what just yet.

Both women hope one day they can work together again and tap into their more creative sides — the reason they bought Hidden Gate from its former owners in 2009.

“We’re sorry to go,” Diederich said. “We can’t say we weren’t successful because we made a lot of people happy.”

Pettis adds: “It has been a labor of love.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected]