Read It and Weep: Parting Words From Franklin Square's Liz Burt

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Grid View

Expand

It's been a fun ride, but after a three-year membership to Old City's retail scene, Franklin Square is throwing in the towel. Faced with an illness in the family, owner Liz Burt will shutter her North Third Street women's boutique at the end of October.

Click through our photos for one last look at the store, or better yet, stop by: The entire boutique is marked down by 50%, and Burt is extending an additional 5% off to Racked Philly readers—just mention the discount at check-out. (The store's last day is Thursday, October 31.) Read Burt's official goodbye letter after the jump.

There are so many emotions that arise at the end, it's hard to know where to start. When I was 25, if you had asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I'd have said, "everything." I'd have meant it, too. For over three years, I've been the owner/operator/buyer/seller/designer/assembler/fixer/shot caller/baller at my Old City shop and jewelry design studio, Franklin Square. It wasn't until very recently that I realized that I didn't have to actually do the "everything" all at once. Running both the store and the jewelry line had become too much to do by myself. I was burning myself out and I needed a break.

At the beginning of my vacation, I got a call from my Dad, informing me that during a routine physical, his doctor had found two egg-sized melanoma (skin cancer) tumors on his left lung. This hit particularly hard because only a few months after Franklin Square opened, I lost my Mom to melanoma. It's funny how sometimes it takes something as serious as cancer to snap out of autopilot and take an honest self-inventory. In 2010, I missed Mom's last Thanksgiving and Christmas to be in town for Franklin Square's first. I cannot risk missing my Dad's.

I'm unable to verbalize exactly how I feel about my decision to close the store. I started the business when I was 26 and full of huge dreams and I'm closing shop at the end of October, just a few weeks before my 30th birthday. I was always afraid that if I closed the store it would be because I was defeated. In the time I've been in Old City, I've met great people and made great friends, gained a solid customer base with people who collect (!!!) my jewelry, made the Racked 38 more than once (which always impresses friends and family on Facebook), had more people than I can count tell me I'm their favorite store, and I've been knocked off, lied to, yelled at, and stolen from, but I am far from defeated. I'm proud of my store and I'm proud of myself and I'm proud of all the things I've accomplished in such a short amount of time. I'm sad that I won't see a lot of my favorite faces as often anymore, but I'm excited to bring on the next chapter of my life!

So, now that I'm nearly 30, if you were to ask me what I want to do with my life, the answer would still be, "everything!!" The thing is, I'm finally about to have the time to do it.

Starting in mid-November, my jewelry will be available on FranklinSquareDesign.com and I can be reached via email at LizBurt@FranklinSquareDesign.com.

Liz Burt

· Where to Shop in Old City: The Definitive Guide [Racked Philly]
· A Goodbye Letter From The Little Apple's Molly Cygan Rossettie [Racked Philly]