photo by: Derek Redd

The Imperial Teacher Store and Christmas Shoppe on Main Street in Center Wheeling both will be closing for good soon.

A business that has been a headquarters for decades for teachers, students and Christmas aficionados looking for the right items will soon close its doors for good.

Both the Imperial Teacher Store and the Imperial Christmas Shoppe on Main Street in Wheeling are closing, owner Cathy Jackson said Thursday. She had posted the announcement on the stores’ Facebook page.

“I’ve been doing it for a long time,” Jackson said Thursday afternoon. “I’m much older and I know it can’t go on forever. It was just kind of a perfect storm.”

Competition from various vendors hastened the process, Jackson said. People have been turning more toward online shopping for items they used to come to Imperial to buy. Big-box stores have also gotten into the act, especially in selling Christmas items. Jackson’s recent health issues also solidified her decision to close the stores.

Originally a fixture farther up Main Street in Downtown Wheeling, the Imperial stores moved to their current location in the early 2000s. For years, they have been a place where teachers and students could find any number of educational items and components for school projects. Patrons could also find a wide range of Christmas items.

Starting today, the stores will be offering discounts on items throughout the stores. The discounts will be in place until everything is gone. The stores also will offer furniture, fixtures, electronics and office supplies.

There is no hard and fast date to close the store, Jackson said. She and her husband Philip own the buildings.

While it is a sad time, Jackson said she is ready for the future. She and her husband plan to travel more and visit their children and grandchildren, some of whom live as far away as Spain.

Yet there are plenty of things she’ll miss about the stores, with customers sitting at the top of the list.

“We have longtime customers and new customers, too,” she said. “We’re not so busy that we can’t actually talk to people. If people talk to us, we’ll certainly talk back … and even talk to some people who don’t talk back.

“So many people have come in and said, ‘This is my favorite store. I love this store,'” Jackson added. “It’s just not translating into sales anymore.”