Closing Time For Maglebee’s

ORLEANS – In so many ways, it was business as usual recently inside Maglebee’s. The long-running boutique on Main Street was busy, with customers perusing the assortment of items and colorful summer attire. 

But a sign adorning the storefront window gave notice that change was afoot.

“Retiring,” it read. “Store closing. Everything on sale.”

After 36 years, the women’s retail shop is expected to close sometime this fall, according to Laura Magleby, the store’s namesake and co-founder who owned the business for 17 years.

“We don’t have a final date yet,” said Magelby, who has stayed on with the store since selling it in 2009. “We’re just selling things off, seeing how that goes.”

 For Magleby, the store has been an extension of her life on Cape Cod. A native of Long Island, she grew up spending summers with her family in South Orleans, where her parents eventually built a home and moved to full time. Then in 1984 Magleby moved to the Cape herself, taking a job as a buyer for Watson’s Menswear.

 In 1990, Mableby and the late Gladys Gombos opened Maglebee’s on the opposite side of Main Street from Watson’s.

 “I had some buying background,” she said. “When I was working at [Watson’s], I could see that a women’s store was the way to go. I could tell what was selling, what wasn’t selling. I was able to look at all the information and get a good idea of what the town could use and what would be successful there. And I built on that.”

 For almost 20 years, Magleby busied herself with the day-to-day business of running her store. She met people, built relationships and deepened her connection to Orleans and the broader Lower Cape community. 

 “I loved being there,” she said. “I loved meeting the people, working with the people. I enjoyed the day-to-day. I looked forward to that. That’s where the joy came from for me.”

 When her family, including her daughter and soon-to-be-born granddaughter, moved to be closer to family in North Carolina, Magleby decided the time was right for her to make a move, too. She relocated to Charlotte while continuing to work for the store remotely under the store’s new owners. She also took comfort that two of her longtime employees, Carole Lagg and Jan Graham, would also remain to help run the store,

 “It definitely made it an easier transition, because I loved the community,” said Magleby, who has continued to travel to and from the Cape as needed for work. “I love the people there. I still have family that have homes there. So yes, I enjoyed doing that.”

 As the closure of the store nears, a recent trip to Orleans last month brought back many memories for Magleby. She and family members took time to pose for a photo outside of the store’s sign. On the opposite end of Main Street across Route 6A, she paid a visit to the Orleans Health Food Store, a downtown institution. But she also took stock of how much had changed since she first started working in town. Former landmarks like the bowling alley and laundromat are gone. There are new banks, as well as what Magleby noticed as a growing trend of new thrift shops.

 “The stores that are remaining and are opening seem to be what the town will enjoy,” she said.

 But other things remain the same. Out for lunch with her daughter, she recalled a conversation with another woman who stopped by their table.

 “Katie Magleby,” she asked.

 “Becky,” her daughter replied in kind.

 “Things like that make me feel good about me and my family being part of such a family  community,” Magleby said.

 And while Maglebee’s may be closing, Laura Magleby said she won’t be a stranger to Orleans, where she still has family and friends. For one, she looks forward to being in attendance when the store she helped start closes for good.

 “It’ll be bittersweet, but I will definitely go,” she said.