Susie’s Gifts on Main has been a go-to gift shopping and greeting-card store for locals and visitors for decades.

But owner Susie Keck has decided it’s time to close up and retire, albeit with a heavy heart.

“I have mixed feelings and will really miss all of my customers who have become such good friends over the years,” she said. “After 23 years, I am ready to try something different.”

The store opened in 1993 at a Market Street location as Susie’s Hallmark.

In 2000, Keck moved the store to 15 W. Main St. after purchasing the building. It continued as a Gold Crown Hallmark store until 2014, when the store and company parted ways. It became Susie’s Gifts on Main.

“I’ve always been committed to a downtown Cortez business. It’s been a wonderful experience,” Keck said.

She’s been an eyewitness to the changes of downtown Cortez over the past two decades. After McPhee dam was finished, Main Street businesses took a hit, then another after Wal-Mart moved in.

There were a lot of vacancies, but there were rebounds each time, “like a roller coaster,” Keck says.

The old Main Street guard – The Toggery, Woolworth, Goldie’s Books, Jerry’s Outdoors, Dream Catcher, and others, are long gone. The newer wave – Main Street Brewery, Kokopelli Bike and Board, Colorado Love Outdoors, Moose and More, beauty salons, and a slew of new restaurants – charge on into the future.

“I’m sorry not to catch the next wave,” Keck says. “But I’m looking forward to traveling in our new RV and visiting family.”

The store is having a blowout sale, with 20-30 percent discounts and a prize contest. A marketing firm sent out 5,000 letters about the sale, and in the first days, a line formed around the block to get into the store.

“I’ve been coming here a long time, and will miss them,” said customer Jim Harrison.

The closeout sale will continue into the coming weeks. The Main Street storefront is also for sale.