OUT OF BUSINESS

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Un magasin de fourrure d'Ottawa en activité depuis un siècle ferme ses portes faute de clientèle.

A landmark store that has been serving Ottawa for more than a century, is closing.

Dworkin Furs on Rideau Street is currently clearing out its inventory and getting ready to shut down permanently.

While fur exports are up, fur sales in Canada are down.

Ian Lee, professor with the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University said the anti-fur campaign of groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is greatly affecting fur sales in Canada, the U.S. and parts of Western Europe.

"[PETA] have made it less fashionable — or less acceptable, I should say — to wear fur," Lee said. "You don’t close your doors because you’re making lots of money…you close your doors because you aren’t making money."

Fur out of fashion
Customer Diane Hoskins is saddened by the closure, but adds she often received stares from people who disapprove of the use of fur.

Hoskins said she had her mink coat dyed purple.

“That's exactly why I had my mink, which I got 30 years ago, done into something that wouldn't be recognizable,” Hoskins said. “Nobody would think there were purple or mauve mink running around.”

Dworkin Furs opened in 1901.

Management at the retailer would not comment on the closure.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/01/12/ottawa-dworkin-furs-closing.html

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