The Belfast Grasshopper Shop is closing for good on Saturday, leaving the Rockland branch as the last of the family-owned gift shop’s locations.
When Sierra Dietz opened the Belfast location in 2022, it was a homecoming of sorts. Her parents, Johanna Strassberg and Ken Schweikert opened the very first Grasshopper Shop in Belfast 50 years ago and operated in the city until 1989. Over the years, the shop expanded to locations in Camden, Bangor, Ellsworth, Searsport, Stonington and Bar Harbor, all run by family members.
When Dietz opened the Belfast shop four years ago, it was a vote of confidence in the town where she grew up and currently resides.
But the shop struggled amidst a changing retail landscape, Dietz said. Competition from Amazon and other online retailers has become an increasing problem, she said, especially as the store’s original customer base has aged and people shop less in person.
“There’s a generation that doesn’t have an issue with buying clothes online and trying them on and then returning whatever they don’t like,” she said.
The shop, which is located on High Street, never got as much foot traffic as Dietz expected even though it isn’t far off of Main Street. And rising inflation and the growing cost of living have also left people with less spending money, she said.
“If it costs you so much more to pay your electric bill and your groceries, or for the hotel room you’re staying in, there’s just less money to spend on the things that maybe aren’t necessities,” Dietz said.
As the Belfast store began losing money, Dietz decided to close it and focus her attention on the Grasshopper Shop’s busy downtown Rockland location.
Since then, “there’s been a lot of processing with customers,” said Alexa Schweikert who has worked at the Belfast shop since it opened. Schweikert is Dietz’s aunt.
“Everyone comes in saying they’re surprised and sad,” she said as she stood behind the shop’s counter on Friday.
Generations of people have shopped at the store’s various locations, she said.
“People come in and talk about the smell. They’re like, ‘I remember this smell, I remember shopping here when I was a kid,’” she said. “When people shop here, they’re happy and they have fun. So it leaves a memory.”
In its final month, the store has offered deep discounts on all of its merchandise. On Saturday, shoppers can get an additional 25 percent off, Dietz said.
As the shelves empty in Belfast, Dietz said she’s feeling sadness but also some relief.
But she warned that small businesses in many small towns are struggling and need support in order to survive.
“If we want to see those businesses stay and see those downtowns remain vibrant, I think it’s really important that we’re all supporting them, year in and year out, and going out to dinner and shopping from the stores downtown, whether that’s Belfast or Rockland or Searsport,” she said.