Photo by Deb Gau Sandy Miller holds up a newspaper ad for the grand opening of their family’s business, Kristi’s Kloset, back in 1974. The ad included pictures of Sandy and Lu, and their daughter Kristi, for whom the store was named.

MARSHALL — It’s a family business that’s spanned two generations. But after more than 50 years on Marshall’s Main Street, Kristi’s For Women will be officially closing shop.

Kristi Miller, and her parents Lu and Sandy Miller, said this week that it was time for them to retire.

“We’re all kind of ready,” Kristi Miller said.

But the Millers’ time running the business was a good one.

“We’ve got such great memories, and hopefully we’ll see our customers out doing things and stay in contact with people, because they’re friends, too,” she said.

The Millers’ business has a history that goes back to 1974, when Kristi’s Kloset opened in a location a little further down the street from where Kristi’s For Women is today. They started out with a children’s clothing store.

“It was something we always wanted to do, and Lu found the building, and we were in,” Sandy Miller said of starting the business.

The Millers named the store after their daughter, Kristi.

“She’s our only child, and it just seemed the right name,” Sandy Miller said.

Kristi was 10 years old when the store opened, and she grew up helping out at the business.

“As a kid, you’re always so eager to help,” she said. “So I was emptying garbage, and sorting hangers, and all that type of thing. And then little by little, I got on to selling.”

Over time, Kristi’s expanded from Marshall into locations in Montevideo, Redwood Falls, Willmar and St. Cloud. Lu Miller was always the one who found the available buildings, Sandy Miller said. He also worked on the books, and was “the muscle” for moving merchandise and store displays, the Millers said.

With five store locations, “We were on the road a lot,” Sandy Miller said. “It was a lot of fun, and it was a lot of work, but it was good.”

Communities like Montevideo and Redwood Falls were also very welcoming and appreciative of the business, she said.

“They were friendly and loyal, my goodness,” she said.

When it got to a point where Lu and Sandy wanted to retire, they closed the additional locations one by one.

“I decided Marshall was the place I wanted to stay, since I had grown up here and loved the community,” Kristi Miller said. “So we kept Marshall.”

The Millers said the focus of Kristi’s has changed over the course of 52 years. In the early days, “The children’s business was crazy then, but retail in general was,” Sandy said. “I mean, everybody wanted their little ones to look good.”

The Millers still have a collection of photos and clippings of advertisements for Kristi’s Kloset in the 1970s and 80s. In the ads, local children served as models, wearing the season’s new clothing looks. The ads were a hit with families, Sandy Miller said.

Kristi’s added more women’s clothing as kids’ fashions started to change.

“We started in ladies’ clothes here, because there was a time when children’s was fading a bit, and they were going to blue jeans and sweatshirts and, you know, Guess jeans,” she said. “So then we had women’s and kids’ (clothing) for a while over in the old building.”

When Kristi’s moved into its current store location, it switched over to women’s clothing with a baby boutique, and became Kristi’s For Women.

“And that’s pretty much, maybe a little bit before, when I took over,” Kristi Miller said.

The Millers said they’ve made a lot of great memories working together.

“We do work well together, so that’s been fun,” Kristi Miller said. “We’ve got lots of memories of Crazy Days — you know, way back in the ’70s, everybody dressed up.”

Besides dressing up in themed outfits, downtown businesspeople would get together for a pre-Crazy Days breakfast, Sandy Miller said.

Relationships with staff and customers were also a big part of the memories that came with Kristi’s, the Millers said.

“They’re friends. I mean, they’re not just customers. You know their life, their children,” Kristi Miller said.

Over time, they’ve seen new generations of the same families come to the store. Employees also stayed with the business for a long time.

“We have had wonderful employees,” she said. “They were just like family.”

The Millers said they were happy for the memories, and were looking ahead.

“I think everything’s an adventure. And so it’s just the next adventure,” Kristi Miller said.