A FAMILY-RUN fabric and haberdashery shop is set to close after 20 years.

Robert Bamberger, the owner of Fabric8 in Head Street, Colchester, says he has closed the business due to the challenges brought by changing shopping habits.

All 12 members of staff will be made redundant. Mr Bamberger, 53, is the third generation of his family to run the business.

He said: “It is with a massive degree of sadness.

“It has taken me a long time to come to terms with it.

“I have to see it as a beginning, rather than as an end, otherwise it will drag me down.”

The shop’s closing down sale began yesterday and it will shut on September 30.

The business was started by Mr Bamberger’s grandmother, Betty, in the hallway of her rented Felixstowe home in 1944.

The family later opened a shop in the town, and in 1995 decided to expand to Colchester.

The shop originally opened its doors as the Remnant Shop.

Mr Bamberger, who has not decided what he will do next, said: “We thought Colchester was a great town and a great opportunity. We filled a gap in the market.”

In recent years they also offered curtain making services, sewing classes and children’s activities parties.

But a change in shopping habits, including cheap shipping prices allowing people to buy products rather than making them, and the increase in online shopping, has hit the business hard.

Mr Bamberger said: “The high street as we know it is changing rapidly.

“More and more people use the town centre for social reasons rather than to buy the things they need at home.

“The growth in the number of coffee shops, bars and restaurants reflects this.

“The business has been open a long time, but times change and nothing lasts forever.”

He has thanked everyone who has supported the business over the years.

He said: “The customers and my staff have always been excellent.

We’ve got a lovely community here in the shop. It’s shame that it’s going to go.”