We've seen an unfortunate economic side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic play out time and time again with so many local businesses having to close their doors. On Friday we've learned of yet another business falling victim to financial hardships.
Mama Mia’s BOWtique in the West Erie Plaza will close their doors for good the second week in March.
The owner, Maria Wells announced this decision in an emotional Facebook post on Friday. She has a rare kidney disease and used to spend her time in the hospital dreaming of creating the boutique and bringing smiles to Erie.
“I’ve had 26 surgeries, 2 kidney transplants, a donor’s femoral artery, I’m a mom of three under ten, and my dream was to open a shop full of hope,” Wells says.
She did just that. In 2017, Wells opened Mama Mia's BOWtique, but like many local small businesses, surviving through a pandemic became impossible. Now she is closing forever.
“Governor Wolf really did blow our house down,” she says.
She felt her business should have been considered essential and been allowed to stay open through the months she had to close.
“It was really hard to see that there were ice cream shops that were considered essential, yet we had baby monitors that prevent SIDS,” Wells says.
Her store specializes in clothes for new and expecting mothers and baby clothing and toys. Her store caters to these new and expecting moms who are a very vulnerable group during the pandemic. At the end of the day, that helped her make the decision to close the doors.
“The thing that made us so special was also the thing that kind of sealed the deal,” Wells says.
On top of that, she has her own health concerns.
“My body is exhausted and we had to figure out ways to cut back on costs so having me here is the best alternative,” she says.
But she says being there all the time is nearly impossible.
Although Maria is emotional and at a loss for words she says if she could go back, she would make this dream of hers happen all over again.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” she says.
She hopes that if nothing else, her story helps remind people how bad small businesses need our support.
“I know it’s easy to just click and ship on Amazon, but there are so many entrepreneurs and local business owners that are struggling and they need us now more than ever,” Wells says.
They have a liquidation sale going on now and she's looking to give other small business owners some shelves, racks, and display cases from her boutique.