11/02/2026
Golden Poppy Trust me, we deeply feel your pain. Many manufacturers and companies no longer support their retail partners, and because of the rise of the internet, have morphed into retailers themselves, cutting us out, the middlemen who helped grow their business. Covid really accelerated that rise in consumer internet buying because many folks were quarantined, working from home on their laptops, and had plenty of time to learn how to shop online. And the unnecessary tariffs have driven prices up adversely affecting discretionary spending.
The real loss of small businesses is to the community they serve. There will be less opportunities for people to shop locally where “the owner is home”, where you are treated with kindness and respect for they are your neighbors. Store like yours and ours are driven by providing quality goods and even more importantly, customer service. We have built relationships with our customers over the years, provided them with a unique place to shop with and for their family. 
So sorry it has come to this for you. You will be greatly missed. And, unless the economic climate doesn’t miraculously improve, we may not be far behind.
We have terrible news we never wanted to deliver—Golden Poppy will be closing after the holiday season. It’s our lease resigning year, and we can no longer sustain our day-to-day operations.
Our holiday season will continue as usual, and we hope to be able to stock the store with some great gifts and outfits!! Complimentary gift wrap will still be available, and we will continue with our usual events through the end of 2026.
We are so thankful for this community that has stuck with us during these five years in business. You even voted us Best of Delaware 2026! To the people who showed up in 2022 and kept showing up through 2026, you are the reason we've lasted this long. We are forever grateful for all your support; we don’t even think we can adequately thank you enough. The memories we will carry from your support will be with us for life. So many customers have become close friends. There are those of you who have shown up for us at every event, every post, and every big milestone. THANK YOU.
All of this is so hard to put into words. We had to make this incredibly hard decision, and trust us we didn’t make it lightly. This was our dream and we worked so hard to try and be successful. However, the past couple of years have been extremely hard on us, and this business, in this location, at this point in time, is not working. We want to share why we made this decision despite all the good we have experienced, and we want to shed light on why small businesses need you right now.
Small businesses are struggling right now. Granted, we’ve made some mistakes along the way, but small businesses don’t close because they are just giving up. They close because the expectations to charge less, spend more, and cater to everyone while doing it with a smile on our face has become too much of a burden to carry. Closing Golden Poppy is not because we failed; we were working against what we feel was a system designed to beat us into the ground recently.
Let’s talk about rising costs and small businesses. First, the CAM fees in our shopping center when we first opened for trash removal (essentially “HOA” fees), etc was manageable. It has almost doubled every year since 2022 as the shopping center has filled up, and in 2025 it was $8k; when we first opened, it was $1,200. Yes, you read that right, EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS.
One of our top-selling brands that everyone knows and loves, ENEWTON, increased all of their bracelets by $5+ when the tariffs began in 2025. We order bracelets in quantities of 6 or 12. If every one of those bracelets goes up by $5+, that’s an additional $30-$60 for each pack of bracelets. That could be an additional $300-$600 on each order! Then you add in shipping costs, or even discounts offered directly to the customer from brands like this, and once again, it feels impossible to compete while trying to stay afloat.
Fighting against all of that and big retailers makes it feel virtually impossible to survive as a small business. We are held to a higher standard than Target, Amazon, etc., yet we are always asked to bend our policies, unlike big-box stores. Trust us, we care more about you than the CEO of Target does. Everyone is quick to share and support big names, but small businesses often go unnoticed and unrepresented. While Kendra Scott is a foot traffic driver, when customers see the brand is running a deal on their website, we are expected to match the discount. Big companies have wiggle room with their margins. Asking us to discount product we have already paid for erases our chances to make even a small profit at the end of the day.
Small businesses are the anchors in our communities; we constantly give back and invest where we are located. Some weeks, the number of donation requests we receive feels overwhelming. We always look at every donation with sadness because we so badly want to say yes to every one we receive to support our community. Yet most of the time our community doesn’t say yes to us. There have been SO many times that we have someone drop off a request, and it’s their first time in our store. It hurts even more when they drop the donation request and walk right out, not even giving anything a second look. Even with all of that in our hearts, we always create a budget for donations and fulfill the ones that we can. Behind every donation is free product, a gift card, or something we paid for out of pocket.
We hope that in our five years here we could make you smile by helping you find an outfit that made you feel incredible, or finding that perfect gift for someone. We cherish every memory we have, and it’s going to be truly heartbreaking to say goodbye to all of our wonderful supporters. Writing this post has come with pain and tears, especially for those who have continued to show up for us. We will carry this experience with us for a lifetime, and it’s because of YOU!
Use those Golden Poppy gift cards you have stashed in your wallet while you still can! Store policies are changing as we approach the end of our era, so please be aware that when you stop in, things could be different regarding gift cards, returns, and hours. etc.
Please feel free to message us with any questions you might have! We are still here to help.
Hopefully we will see you this season! Small businesses need all the support you can give them right now; times are tough. This post is not just about us, it’s about every small business you love. SHOW them how much you love that they exist by following their social handles, commenting on their posts, recommending them to people, and of course showing up at their business. Shop LOCAL and shop SMALL!
