By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Timothy Oulton, a British furniture and home accessories company, plans to close its store at 38 Main St. on March 31. The store opened in August 2022. 

The store closing was confirmed Friday by Joshua Frye, the general manager of the company’s Manhattan store, which will be closing Feb. 2.

The Timothy Oulton closure is the second British furniture brand to shut its doors on Main Street within the last year. Oka, which had opened at 44 Main St. in December 2022, shuttered that store last June.

Tariffs a factor?

A person in Timothy Oulton’s Manhattan store who identified himself as a sales staffer, but did give his name, said a reason for the store closing is “the current administration and high tariffs that will be imposed on our goods.” 

The business does highlight its use of materials from around the world, a spokesman said at the time of the Westport store’s opening.

“Everything starts with the materials — we bring old timber from the U.K., leathers from Brazil and Argentina, veg-dyed linens, stone, crystal and glass. … We cover a whole spectrum of styles,” Jude Leach, then global head of retail for Timothy Oulton, told the Westport Journal.

The impact of tariffs, however, was not confirmed by Frye, and a person answering the phone in Westport would not give a reason for the local store being closed.

Neighboring properties on Main Street emptied

The departure of Timothy Oulton, along with Oka, will leave two large retail spaces vacant, side by side, in the heart of Westport’s Main Street commercial district.

The Timothy Oulton store in Los Angeles, however,  will remain open, Frye said. The other remaining store in the U.S., also in California, will continue operations as well. 

The Westport store currently is holding a 20-percent off sale, and was full of customers Friday, according to the person answering the phone there.

The company’s website lists 17 other countries besides the U.S. where Timothy Oulton stores are located.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.