The O Zone in Brighton to close in April after 30 years

Christine Giles and Deborah Newitt will shut The O Zone after almost 20 years at the helm of the shop in Church Street, Brighton.

The business partners said they will miss being a part of people’s special occasions but that it was “the right time” to shut.

The shop, which was an existing business prior to the pair taking over 19 years ago, will close its doors for ever at the end of April.

“I want to retire,” said Mrs Giles. “And our lease has come to an end and it feels like the right time to do it.

“It’s going to be pretty emotional when it comes to the end but me and Deborah both know it’s the right thing to do.”

The 63-year-old said running the business has been “amazing” and she will miss forming bonds with brides.

“Sometimes you’re dealing with these girls for 18 months and everybody has an individual story and I will miss that,” she said.

“I had one lady towards the end of last week and in the space of three and a quarter hours I knew her whole life story.

“The other week I had a sister of a bride we had helped and she came and bought her dress.

“It was quite upsetting to say to the third sister I’m not going to be here when it’s your turn.

“You do build up a very close relationship with the brides and when they send you their pictures and come back and visit it’s really nice.”

The business partners had some interest from buyers to take over the business, however none of these came through.

Existing brides who have orders with the company will be looked after and were told about the plans to close in January.

Christine Giles and Deborah Newitt (Image: Christine Giles and Deborah Newitt)

Mrs Giles will be doing fittings and alterations from her home.

“We’re not letting anyone down,” she said.

“The thing that will impact people the most is our menswear. We’re the only independent suit hire place in Brighton and we get so many requests for next-day suit hire.

“It’s not unusual to get a man walk through the door and say they need a suit for this evening.

“I don’t know what they’ll do now.”

Mrs Giles said the bridal industry has changed “enormously” in the time they have been running the business.

She said people are opting for more informal dresses from high street brands and looking to spend less.

She also spoke of the impact of Covid.

Many dresses which have never been worn due to the pandemic are still in storage in the shop.

The shop will close in April (Image: The Argus)

“We were doing a lot of counselling during that time,” said Mrs Giles.

“We still have dresses in storage here that were bought in 2019 for a wedding in 2020 and they’ve never been worn for one reason or another.

“We came through Covid no problem, but people were saying there would be an influx of weddings which just hasn’t materialised.”

She said people have been going into the shop to express their sadness at the news of the closure.

The final day of business will be April 28.