A Channelside business is shutting its doors after more than 11 years at the complex.

  • White House Gear and American Classics opened in 2005
  • Owner says she's ready for a break
  • Other businesses leaving Channelside, as well

"I think it was just a good time to move on," said Janet Griffin, owner of White House Gear and American Classics.

White House Gear and American Classics, located on the outer ring of the shopping center, first opened in July 2005. During the life of her business, Griffin said she has seen Channelside flourish and falter through the years.

"I was here in 2005 before the recession," Griffin said. "It was just an awesome location, and I know it will be again."

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik bought Channelside from a bankruptcy court in 2014, vowing to turn the place around. Though there are plans for other parts of downtown Tampa, including areas surrounding the Channelside complex, the shopping center itself still doesn't have any official plans.

Road construction is picking up downtown, as well, and other Channelside businesses are leaving, too.

"When it was suggested that it might be a good time, I spoke to my daughters and thought about it and it felt like a silver living," said Griffin, who feels she's not getting evicted. The conversation about the store's future, according to her, never got that far.

Griffin's reasons for closing up shop now are more personal. She's owned and run the business full time for more than a decade, and she's missed her family’s milestones over the years due to that commitment.

“When you own a business that's seven days a week, 365 days a year, I've missed weddings, I've missed this and that," she said, adding she is ready to relax, replan and regroup.

Griffin will continue to sell items online and might reopen her store across the bay in St. Petersburg. She hopes to join other vendors in pop-up shops across the Bay area.

The store is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Griffin is also collecting items to send to those affected by the floods in Louisiana. Here is a list of items she's looking to send:

  • Shovels
  • Heavy-duty garbage bags
  • Mops and mop heads
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Towels
  • Rags
  • Hygiene products
  • Diapers
  • Formula
  • Baby wipes
  • Pet food
  • Unopened packages of socks and underwear