Another Naperville independent store leaving

After 11 years in downtown Naperville, Debbie Hennen is hanging up her hangers.

The owner of Deborah Jean Apparel at 232 S. Washington St. has announced plans to close her women's clothing store late next month.

"I've been thinking about this for the last few months and decided with the change in seasons that now is a good time," Hennen said. "This store was the realization of a lifelong dream, and a lot of people don't get to realize a dream come true."

She said business has lagged somewhat recently, but that wasn't the chief reason she was closing the store.

"I simply feel it's time to do something different and move on to new adventures," she said.

Business wasn't lagging Tuesday, the first day shoppers had a chance at the store's merchandise since Hennen announced the imminent closing. She even had women lined up at the door when she opened at 9 a.m. She sent notices to hundreds of past shoppers announcing the store's closing and the clearance sale she was having.

"It's been pretty busy today, I can tell you that much," she said Tuesday.

The Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce chose Deborah Jean Apparel for its business makeover program last year. The program gives business owners like Hennen a chance to have a team of other chamber members come in and help revitalize their stores.

"It's not to rescue a business," explained Sun Kwok, project leader for the makeover team. "It's to find someone who's doing well and wants to do better, but doesn't know how to get there."

Hennen said the experience was "fabulous."

"The volunteers came in and helped in areas that I wanted to update and review, and that was everything like technology, marketing, advertising and so much else," she said.

Kwok said he was saddened to hear of Hennen's decision to close her shop.

"If she had been a candidate maybe two years before, we might have been able to help her more," he said. "She had some pretty serious challenges with her business in terms of changing demographics."

The makeover team has worked with two other chamber businesses but has no plans for future projects, Kwok said.

Hennen's self-owned clothing boutique joins a continually growing list of independent downtown merchants who have shuttered or moved out of downtown in recent years.

Many have left because rents have increased to a point that only national chains can afford the space, experts said. However, Hennen said rent on the 150-year-old structure was not an issue in her decision to close.

"In fact," she said, "we are looking for a dynamic business to assume this space."