Do Stores That Shut Down in SL Ever Come Back?

[HSHPrincessofCarlisne]

Hello everyone,

After seeing multiple stores shutting down over the years, I've been wondering; 

Do stores that shut down in SL ever come back? I see their in-world stores closing, then their marketplace page is no more. The profile of the owner of the store then becomes totally blank, and they never respond again.

After that, I have never seen a store that has shut down ever return again. I've heard talk of stores that are temporarily unavailable due to certain issues, but I've never seen them return.

I've had some of my favourite stores shut down and I wonder if it's even possible for them to come back at all. 

Do let me know how it works.

- Charlotte Sinclair 

Edited April 14, 2022 by LottaSinclair

[Kalegthepsionicist]

I talked to the helper at the sim, about the SL's not-so-bright economy, and they seem to be trying to lie about this.

 

[MoiraKathleen]

8 minutes ago, LottaSinclair said:

Hello everyone,

After seeing multiple stores shutting down over the years, I've been wondering; 

Do stores that shut down in SL ever come back? I see their in-world stores closing, then their marketplace page is no more. The profile of the owner of the store then becomes totally blank, and they never respond again.

After that, I have never seen a store that has shut down ever return again. I've heard talk of stores that are temporarily unavailable due to certain issues, but I've never seen them return.

I've had some of my favourite stores shut down and I wonder if it's even possible for them to come back at all. 

Do let me know how it works.

- Charlotte Sinclair 

I think whether a store comes back or not is up to the owner and the reason why they stopped operating their store.  

Unless one had the unfortunate experience of being banned from SL, I'm not aware of anything that would prevent the owner from re-opening their store at some point, if that was what they wanted to do. 

[Finite]

I can only think of one store. The creator seemed to quit for whatever reason then came back a couple years later. 
 

it takes a bit of time and effort to manage a store. Not everyone is willing to commit to that for a hobby. I think a break here and there is fair and it’s normal for people to just move on to another interest altogether. I’ve done it from SL like a handful of times myself lol.

[HSHPrincessofCarlisne]

29 minutes ago, MoiraKathleen said:

I think whether a store comes back or not is up to the owner and the reason why they stopped operating their store.  

Unless one had the unfortunate experience of being banned from SL, I'm not aware of anything that would prevent the owner from re-opening their store at some point, if that was what they wanted to do. 

I've never seen a store return or re-open before. 

Yes, I think that's what happened to the owner of the hair store, Rezology. There was a story and a post about that some time ago. 

27 minutes ago, Finite said:

I can only think of one store. The creator seemed to quit for whatever reason then came back a couple years later. 
 

it takes a bit of time and effort to manage a store. Not everyone is willing to commit to that for a hobby. I think a break here and there is fair and it’s normal for people to just move on to another interest altogether. I’ve done it from SL like a handful of times myself lol.

Yes, well it's hopeful and refreshing to hear that there is at least one case of that occurring. But I have never seen it happen.

I've seen stores that have been up for years and have never shut down. There have also been stores that have been running for years, or a couple of years and then they suddenly shut down. 

[Rowan Amore]

2 hours ago, LottaSinclair said:

I've never seen a store return or re-open before. 

 

 

Empire shoes was gone for a few years.  I just saw they had a new item at a current event.

[Marianne Little]

I know a store who had a big inworld closing sale in 2019, and who has started to list things on the Marketplace recently. It is Pixel Mode. Furniture and skyboxes.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Marianne Little

[So Whimsy]

I've actually seen this happen just the other day! I was looking for a build I couldn't find in my inventory and after a long search realised the the store was completely gone both on mp and in world. Dunno for how long.

Then a few days ago the creator re-opened and re-uploaded all their builds to the marketplace. They also have an in world presence again.

[Persephone Emerald]

Stores do come back, but they risk losing their visibility when they leave and their groups empty out. DV8 came back and never had the same following it did originally. Lumae (a skin store) came back as Ritual, left and then came back as Lumae again, then the creator went to make skins for WYRD, and now WYRD is moving to MP only. The owner of LaVian left and reopened a couple times, but hasn't come back since the last time she shut down. Striker Serpentine left and was gone for years, came back and was selling stuff, but I don't know if he's still selling stuff now. I saw him posting in a group chat and was like "Wow that's a blast from the past!"

 

[Janet Voxel]

I think it’s very common for stores to close and for them to come back as another store on an alt. It’s more like a ‘rebranding’ than a comeback. 
 

If you mean coming back as the same account and store, it does happen. There’s been a few posts in the mesh, texturing and general forums by former creators returning. Especially over the last couple years. I think rebranding is far more common though.

[HSHPrincessofCarlisne]

Wow, thank you all for the swift replies and the insights!

I made this post because one of my favourite stores shut down; Monarch Motorcars - they made mostly 1930s style cars that were quite unique and you couldn't find anything like it anywhere else; I'm still looking for an alternative to replace a vehicle that had been in my wishlist for a long time but I ultimately regret not purchasing from their store. Needless to say, I haven't been able to find one.  They've been around for at least since 2013 and they shut down sometime in 2020. 

I messaged and left a notecard to the creator whose profile is now blank and predictably I haven't heard back; the store group still exists but only has a handful of people who mostly haven't been around for a while. 

I witnessed Rezology, H@S Heels by Saki, FELGO and now Monarch Motorcars shut down, I've never seen a store that has shut down and came back in any form, so I was wondering if it even happens at all.

Edited April 14, 2022 by LottaSinclair

[Lysistrata Szapira]

Purple Moon (now known as PM), a women's clothing store, closed a couple years ago but returned for the Christmas Advent season in 2021. Poulet (the store owner) said it would just be temporary, but the store is still open, and she's still creating new items.  I hope she brings back her hunts which were legendary.

Dark Mouse is another (jewelry) store that was hugely popular many years ago. That creator closed up shop before mesh became a thing, but now her store is back under the same name.

Lazuri was a pretty popular jewelry store too. It closed, but last year it reopened.  I have not seen any new releases since the initial intro though, so I don't know what its current status is. 

So yes, stores do close and return and sometimes under the original name/avatar. 

The stores that closed with the advent of mesh will probably not return. Dark Mouse seems to be the only one that decided to learn to create mesh and returned. 

[Salt Peppermint]

I have seen quite a few close and return but under a differnt name and brand, including myself. I left in 2007 and re-opened with a S&P in 2015 again. Guess it always depends for what reasons someone has left.

[Sid Nagy]

It is just like RL, shops come and go but seldom return.
Some entrepreneurs restart with new concepts though.

 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

Sometimes a creator comes back after a while under a different brand. Like a fresh start. 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:54 AM, LottaSinclair said:

I made this post because one of my favourite stores shut down; Monarch Motorcars - they made mostly 1930s style cars 

That's too bad! i would have loved to see those. Never knew about them.

[Doris Johnsky]

I think some stores moved from in-world to marketplace.

 

Dealing with having to give LL a cut from sales is most likely cheaper than having an in-world store and dealing with the expenses involved.  Labor (assuming you hire people), rental/tier cost (that can be very high), uploading costs if you're doing mesh builds.

Risk, of course, is losing sales because some people like getting demos for clothes. hair, etc. Good sellers will offer demos in MP to offset this possible loss of sales.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Doris Johnsky

[HSHPrincessofCarlisne]

12 hours ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

That's too bad! i would have loved to see those. Never knew about them.

Yes, Monarch Motorcars; they had been around for at least 2013. They shut down some time in 2020, I believe. They had a very nice in-world store and all kinds of unique vehicles; limousines, military versions of vehicles, wedding parade vehicles, funeral parade vehicles, police and detective vehicles...

The car that was on my wishlist that I never purchased is this one, the Monarch 760SK Cyrado Roadster. It's basically a rendition of the car from the Great Gatsby, and it came in "Gatsby yellow". It even came with an animated roof; so much detail. Suffice to say, I have never found an alternative vehicle to replace this one. I might post in the Wanted section about this. 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by LottaSinclair