Garrett's by the Bridge will close Nov

Garrett's by the Bridge will close Nov NEW GLASGOW All summer, Eddie MacArthur says he has offered to sell Max Paderno, the cat that lurks around Garrett's http://www.amateurpin.org by the Bridge, greeting customers and picking up treats where he could. The cost for the fine cat, he told people was $3.4 million. Joking aside, MacArthur has made the decision to close the business he's worked at since 1958 and owned since 1985. He'll close the doors to the public Nov. 30. MacArthur said the time has come to retire and move on to the next juncture of his life. He has struggled with a nagging hip injury from a fall he had in 1992 and said he finds it difficult getting to the store, particularly in winter. The blue building, which sits at the corner of George Street and Riverfront Boulevard in New Glasgow, has long been a part of the landscape. Founded in 1892 by John E. Garrett, the business was the original factory site for the famed Bluenose hooked rug patterns. Those driving by the store would be hard pressed to miss the word "Antiques" that was written right onto the shingles, and at one time there was also a wagon on the roof. One seasonal tradition: people would trade the skates they had outgrown for new ones. On the shelves are ornaments, bottles and books and a host of other items that beg those who enter the doors to linger and admire. MacArthur had been taught by one of founder John Garrett's sons and when the man took over, he was asked to do the bookkeeping. What started as part time work, turned into a lifelong career for MacArthur. He remembers how the building looked when he started with rooms sectioned http://www.arabcarsales.co.uk off which he has since opened up. Downstairs the hooked rug patterns were still being made. In those days a lot of their stuff was bought at estate sales. "We'd load the half ton truck up as high as it could go for $200 or $300 in those days," he said. A love of antiques was nurtured, if not born, from his work there. He quickly learned what it took to make the good finds. While other buyers were chatting with each other, he would root through the boxes that would later be sold. "You never knew what kind of treasure you were going to get," he said. While he's picked up some rarities and the occasional lucky find, if there were any priceless pieces, they were sold before he knew what they were, he said. MacArthur admits there will probably be days he'll miss the place, and if it weren't for the trouble getting around he's had since his injury, he'd keep it going for a while longer. But such is not the case. Everything must go. Garrett's by the Bridge was founded in 1892 by John E. Garrett The well known Bluenose Rug Hooking Machine was invented and patented at the store 1926 by John. E. Garrett. Garrett's was not the first or only producer of hooking patterns in Nova Scotia, but it was the largest and longest in operation.