After 24 years in the retail clothing business on the Vineyard, the owner of hannah b, the popular boutique women’s clothing store on Main street Edgartown, is closing shop with a blowout sale this weekend.

Patty Culkins opened hannah b in 2010, next door to her other store, Saffron. Ms. Culkins said while she loved running the boutique, she and her husband Paul Ulyatt are ready for something new.

“We have had an incredibly long and wonderful run but we are both ready for a lifestyle change,” she said.

The couple has a long history in retail. In 1991 they opened their first store, The Last Mango, in Newport, R.I. After a trip to the Vineyard to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in 1992, they decided to open a second store, also named The Last Mango, on Circuit avenue. In the following two years they opened two more stores, one in Newport and the other on Main street Edgartown, both named Saffron. In addition to opening four stores in four years, Ms. Culkins and Mr. Ulyatt had three children in three years.

Everything must go: sale begins Saturday.

Mark Lovewell

Everything must go: sale begins Saturday.

Mark Lovewell

“Talk about a busy time,” Ms. Culkins told the Gazette by phone Tuesday.

In 2000 they decided to focus on the Edgartown stores, and closed the other three shops. Downsizing also gave them more time to spend with family, Ms. Culkins said. In 2010 the space next to Saffron became available and Ms. Culkins opened hannah b. She closed Saffron in 2012.

Hannah b was named for a young employee who had worked for her for several years.

“Despite our age difference, whenever this young woman came back to visit, we were able to pick up exactly where we had left off and it was always a comfortable and relaxed reunion,” said Ms. Culkins. “That was the vibe I wanted in the store, like every customer was an old friend.”

Hannah b offered a larger selection than Saffron with a touch more sophistication, matching Ms. Culkins’s own developing tastes as a buyer. Brands included Free People, Frye boots, Michael Stars and Three Dots.

It will be hard to leave the familiar realm of retail, but even harder to leave the customers, Ms. Culkins said.

“I used to joke with my kids that the time in the shop was my social hour,” she said. “It was always about the people — the clothes were great — but it was about the people.”

She recalled how children who used to visit with their mothers now shop in her store for themselves, and the young women she employed have gone on to begin their own careers.

Though the closing has been a surprise to many of her customers, Ms. Culkins said she has thought about it over the past few years — and the timing just fell into place.

“Sometimes all of the sudden you’re making the decision and it just happens,” she said, adding:

“Having your own business has many perks but it is something that is constantly on your mind and you can never really not think about it.” She said her next steps are still unknown, but fun to think about.

For the immediate future, more time on the family sailboat, Aura, is on the to-do list.

Meanwhile on Saturday, everything including fixtures and furniture will be 75 per cent off at hannah b’s closing sale. Doors open at 10 a.m.; the store will remain open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the merchandise is gone.

Hannah b is located next door to the Edgartown Cinema at 65 Main street.