The owner of Ridgefield”™s Purple Frog Gift Shop announced the closing of her business with a slam at Amazon and a warning that the e-commerce behemoth will decimate the town”™s independent retailers.
Emma Hardiman opened Purple Frog at 414 Main St. in April 2013 and offered a line of baby and young children”™s clothing, jewelry, cards and assorted gifts. Hardiman used her store”™s Facebook page to announce that her business will shut down on Dec. 31, stating that it was “time for new adventures” while praising Ridgefield as a “special town with great people.”™
But Hardiman also told her Facebook followers that she will be “continuing to shop local” and prophesized that the favoring of e-commerce over local retail will doom Ridgefield”™s retail sector.
“Please remember your Ridgefield stores during a time when Amazon is breaking all online records,” she wrote. “If this trend continues our precious downtown is going to look very different in 5 years”™ time.”
