Mindful Hands Closing at 211 King Street

Mindful Hands, which has been located on lower King Street for 16 years, is leaving its space and looking for a new spot.

The store at 211 King Street was asked to vacate by the end of this month by a new landlord after its previous landlord, Robert Dreifus, passed away in early January. Mindful Hands’ lease ended in August, but owner Sally Scime said she was only recently notified that the store must vacate.

The new landlord is the trustee of the Dreifus estate.

“Our previous landlord was a big supporter of small businesses and grew up in Old Town,” Scime told Patch. “He remembered when Old Town was all mom-and-pop stores. He had his own small business and knew how hard it is to make a living in a small shop.” Dreifus had not raised their rent in 10 years.

Scime said she was prepared to renegotiate a new lease with the new landlord but was not given the option. “He was adamant that we could not stay through December,” she said.

Revenues had been increasing for the shop, which had been profitable for several years.

In addition to retail products ranging from fair-trade jewelry, scarfs, stationery and many other items related to its meditation and mindfulness practice, Scime also ran a farm co-operative out of her store in partnership with Great Country Farms of Virginia as well as children’s writing groups, yoga and meditation classes and cat rescue group Tails High.

The last day for adopting cats through Tails High is Nov. 10.

She hopes to continue those offshoots when she finds a new place in the spring. Scime is currently putting everything she doesn’t sell in storage.

A personal life coaching business on a lower floor must also move. Ichban Sushi House’s lease runs about six more years, according to Scime.

Mindful Hands is closing Nov. 18 and currently having a major sale.