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NEDERLAND — After 23 years on Boston Avenue, Sew Much More is closing its doors, downsizing and relocating.

Owner Tammy Holt, 60, said she is simply ready for retirement.

“I started this business in 1997 in my home and I’m taking it back to my home in Vidor,” she said. “I’ve been doing this for 23 years, so about five years ago my husband bought a Mayhaw Orchard farm in Vidor and I don’t like driving two hours a day. I’m ready to be home.”

Holt said the decision came easily after spending two weeks of shutdown during COVID-19 with her two sons, daughters-in-law and five grandchildren.

“I had two weeks to stay home and just play with my grandkids,” she said. “One day while we were sitting on the peer fishing, my granddaughter turns to me and says, ‘I like hanging out with you.’ I said, ‘That’s it. We’re done.’ I’ve wanted to retire for a while and this was the final reason.”

Sew Much More is an authorized Baby Lock dealership offering sewing, embroidery, quilting and serger machines.

Holt, keeping the name of the store, will work as the sole employee out of her home in Vidor.

“We want to be small and take care of our Baby Lock customers in a way we haven’t before,” she said. “We’re still going to be a Baby Lock dealership and carry essential items, but we will not be a large quilt shop anymore. It’s time consuming and all my family, my kids and grandkids live out there and I want to be able to spend as much time as possible with them.”

Sew Much More’s final day is Saturday. The store will remain open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until then.

“I never would have thought that I’d stay in business this long,” Holt said. “I’m going to miss it, but I’m a lot older now and this is a good time to stop.”

Holt is not the only one that will miss the business.

Charlene Akers, longtime employee and friend of Holt’s, said Sew Much More has been like a family to her for the last 20 years.

“I’m going to miss the friendships and the people I’ve met,” she said. “I’m going to miss the fabric, the machines, the fellowship and all the good times spent with friends always there to help you out. We’ve met so many wonderful people and I’ve learned so much. It’s more than a shop to me. It was very personal and still is.”

Holt said the thing she will miss most is the people.

“My store is what you would consider a destination store,” she said. “People want to come in and just visit. This is a place where you can come and we can just be friends whether you spend $10 or $10,000. I’m a people person, and I will miss this community a lot, but after 23 years I need to be with my family.”

The address to the new location will be given at a later date.