BATON ROUGE - Poise N Ivy Boutique has been a family business for generations, but the store is soon coming to an end.

The owner, Jamie Tarwater, says they never got the relief they needed to survive the pandemic. The store has been a staple in the Baton Rouge area.

"We opened in 1965, I was a very young girl," said Tarwater.

That's when she started working for her mother at Poise N Ivy Boutique.

"It was passed down. It's very well known. It's part of retail history in Baton Rouge."

For years, hundreds of women have bought clothes, shoes, and jewelry there. However, Jamie is closing her store for good by the end of the year.

"It's one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made and I'm going to miss it," said Tarwater.

She says customers didn't return at the rate she was accustomed to before the shutdown.

"We were closed for two and a half months, and when we reopened the traffic wasn't here," Tarwater said. 

The rules governed by the pandemic canceled many events. That domino effect caused the sales of much of her formal clothing to decline.

Things also took another turn this summer when her mother Pearl Faser passed away at 94.

"I had a great teacher in her. She taught me very well," she said.

Jamie says she's not sure what's next. 

"There will be good things to come. I just don't know what they are yet."

In the meantime, she wants the community to continue supporting small businesses.