After almost 51 years in business, the leather goods and accessories shop Harbourmaster is preparing to close.

People lined up around the store, outside the door and across the Washington Mall to take advantage of a 50 per cent off closing sale.

Owner Sheilagh Robertson said the sale would run until at least the end of February, but shelves were already clearing fast.

Last June, while celebrating the store’s 50th anniversary, Ms Robertson announced that she was retiring and was hoping to find a buyer.

She first opened in March 1975 to fill a gap she saw in the leather goods market, modelling her store after a place she loved in her native Canada.

This week she declined to say whether she was selling or closing altogether.

The Harbourmaster has been one of the longest-running stores in the Washington Mall, continuously operated by the same person.

In the past, Ms Robertson has said the secret to her success was finding the right niche at the right time.

The mall itself was new when Ms Robertson opened. She said the place had been a good incubator for new businesses.

Ms Robertson once told The Royal Gazette that the Covid-19 pandemic was among the hardest periods she had weathered in business, but it brought her into the modern age.

“I am a little old-fashioned and like working with a physical thing,” she said. “I like marking pages and flipping back and forth, as opposed to click, click, click. Covid-19 forced people like me to adapt, kicking and screaming, to a new way of thinking and doing things. We were using online for everything.”