Main Street's "I Love Theatre" Shop to Close in December

The small "for lease" sign above the big "retirement sale" sign on the I Love Theatre gift shop sums up part of the story.

The Main Street gift shop that features sports mugs, t-shirts, Baltimore trinkets, theater gifts and collectibles will close on Dec. 31.

Michael Kornstein, who has run the shop at 8151 Main Street since 1997, was behind the counter on Tuesday. 

"I have no choice," said Kornstein. "The owner of the building is retiring me. I wasn't looking forward to it."

A Westminster couple is listed as the owners of the building, according to real estate records. The owners did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Kornstein said he didn't know what the owners planned to do with the building. At the moment, he's offering a 50 percent off sale on merchandise in the store.

The store closing is another shift for the retail shops on Main Street. In August, the owners of Taylor's Antique Mall announced they would close their large store at the corner of Old Columbia Pike and Main Street in January.

In June, Mumbles and Squeaks closed at 8133 Main Street after 21 years of selling toys to local families. The owners, Ed Williams and Frank DiPietro, said they were moving to the beach.

Craig Coyne Jewelers plans to move its business about three doors up Main Street into the former location of Mumbles and Squeaks this month. JoanEve, which sells antiques and collectibles at a location across from the B&O Railroad Musuem, will then move into the former location of Craig Coyne at 8113 Main Street.

The shift of JoanEve leaves a hopscotch of businesses near the CSX bridge on lower Main Street. A former liquor store location remains vacant there and Acquisitions Home & Design, a furniture store at 8006/8004 Main Street, is open sporadically, according to local business owners.

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