NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Bradford's Interiors is closing it's doors after 126 years of business in Nashville. The third generations of owners decided it was time to call it quits.
The president Bill Roland sent a letter to the store's loyal customers explaining the store was closing, and a clearance sale would start on July 6th.
Suzanne Tucker Gentry was at the store Monday. She came back for another look on Tuesday.
"My husband said I looked lost yesterday, we came in there was so many people, and I felt lost. I felt lost. And then seeing the old friends. We all knew each other. It was just very, very hard," Gentry explained.
Gentry has been shopping at Bradford's for years and she never thought she would see the day the store would close.
"You expect Bradford's to always be here. It's like the world is changing a little too much when Bradford's isn't going to be here," said Gentry.
Shelby Ray had her first design job at Bradford's. She said she learned important lessons while working at the store.
"Just how to relate to people, and how to talk to them, and just build relationships," according to Ray.
Designer Robin Rains worked at Bradford's for 15 years before going out on her own. She said Bradford's is a unique part of Nashville.
"Third generation, family owned," Rains said. "There's nothing like it in this town. There's not a store like it."
Adelaide Shull Davis is 101 years old. Her family has a long history with Bradford's.
"They've been wonderfully good to me all these years," Davis said. "I think that Bradford's has served a wonderful era and I think it's time for them to pass on."
Bradford's first operated at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Broadway. The store occupied that location for 75 year. Then in 1951 the store's owners made the bold move to leave downtown for the untested retail scene in suburban Green Hills.
The current location on Hillsboro Pike opened in 1951, and has operated at that location ever since.
President Bill Roland said the plan is to keep the store open until the end of the year. The current stock is all there is to sell, and Roland did not expect to sell so much during the first two days of the clearance sale.
