Jerzi Rae’s Boutique is closing shop this week after just a year in its Springfield location.
Friday will be the last day of business for the fashion boutique located at 1927 W. Iles Ave.
Owner Sommer Henrikson relocated Jerzi Rae’s from its former location in Williamsville to Springfield in April 2025, hoping that moving to a more central location would bring more customer traffic to the shop, which carried name-brand and locally designed apparel, jewelry, candles and body care products.
“It just wasn’t the case,” Henrikson said. “Despite being in a busy area, I just wasn’t seeing the shoppers.”
Jerzi Rae’s announced it would be closing in a Facebook post in late March and has now set April 17 as its last day of sales. Henrikson said overhead costs combined with a lack of shoppers prompted the closing.
“I feel like our economy has gotten so bad that people aren’t shopping as much,” she said. “They can barely afford to live, let alone treat themselves to something that isn’t a necessity. Online shopping has also affected in-person shopping significantly.”
Henrikson added that she felt that running a small business of any kind was difficult in the Springfield community.
“I am absolutely heartbroken with closing this chapter,” she said. “This was my dream. And from 2023-2026, I got to live that out. But with the costs of everything going up, the overhead, etc. … it just wasn’t meant to be.”