MARSHALL — There was a bustle of people at the Rustic Hideaway Boutique on Monday. There were a lot of hugs, too.

Sarah Kesteloot said it’s been an emotional time as she prepares to close her storefront.

“The hardest part of going online is not seeing the faces of customers,” she said. “There are so many people that you meet just from them walking in through the door.”

Last week, Kesteloot announced that after six years downtown, she would be transitioning the Rustic Hideaway Boutique to an online-only business. It wasn’t an easy decision, she said, but the numbers of shoppers at the store never quite recovered after the COVID pandemic.

“A lot of people learned to shop online,” Kesteloot said.

Over the past six years, Kesteloot said, “There’s been a lot of ups and downs” running a small business. There were times — like during the pandemic — that she had to close her doors temporarily. Kesteloot said she’s also tried to bring good value and reasonable prices to customers, but the economy had been challenging since COVID.

It would be hard to close the physical store on Third Street, Kesteloot said. She’s gotten to know many of her customers, and enjoyed getting to catch up and chat with them.

Some customers “have been there through thick and thin,” she said. “They’ve let me know I’m going to be missed.”

However, Kesteloot still wants to keep her business running.

“It’s not something I’m ready to give up on,” she said. The Rustic Hideaway Boutique will still operate on rustichideaway boutique.com. It’s also possible that she will still attend vendor events in the future, she said.

Kesteloot held a sale event Monday and today, but she said she’ll likely stay open a while after that to help clear out the inventory at the shop. Going forward, she said that customers will be able to get news and updates at the Rustic Hideaway website or on Facebook.

“I want to thank everyone that walked through my door over the years,” Kesteloot said.

She said she was grateful to have been part of downtown for six years, and she hoped customers would continue to support her business online.

Marshall’s downtown has seen some changes to local businesses in recent years. Some boutique stores have closed or moved to new locations, while others have moved in. In March, RLee’s Emporium opened on Main Street, at the former location of Music Street. In 2024, after the Coco Avenue boutique closed down, the Crystal Cauldron store moved in.

In the past year, some long-time downtown businesses have also changed hands or made announcements that they would close. In September, Karl’s bought the former Bot Appliance location. This spring, Patzer’s Hardware Hank owners announced they would be closing the hardware and furnishings side of the business.