Date: Fri 11-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Mabel-Duren-Queen-St-Cleaners

Full Text:

Owner Sells Queen St Cleaners-- A Fond Farewell For Mrs Duren

(with photo)

A familiar, friendly face will be missing from the Queen Street Cleaners.

Mabel Duren retired this week. She and her husband, James, sold the business

in February and were packing Thursday for a move to Camden, S.C., where Mrs

Duren was born and still has relatives, including sisters and brothers.

They opened the business in 1979 under the name Quality Cleaners. Mrs Duren

took over running the business by herself six years ago.

Mrs Duren spent her last day at the cleaning establishment Wednesday.

"Twenty years is a long time. I've seen a lot of changes here," she said.

"It's a tear-jerking and heartbreaking thing," Mrs Duren said of giving up the

business and moving out of town.

"I've had a very personal relationship with my customers," she said.

The new owner of the cleaners is Danbury resident Larry Gillotti, whose

company, One Stop Cleaners in Danbury, has been providing dry cleaning and

shirt laundering for the Queen Street Cleaners for the past five years.

Because of this, the level of service provided to customers will not change

with her retirement, Mrs Duren said.

A resident of Danbury for 44 years, Mrs Duren said she and her husband will

"be back on land my parents left to me."

Mrs Duren said she left South Carolina when she was 18.

"It's a beautiful place. I never thought I'd go back there, but it's

happening," she said.

Mrs Duren has said a lot of goodbyes recently, not only at Queen Street

Cleaners but at her church, the Mt Pleasant A.M.E. Zion Church in Danbury, and

at a going-away party at the Elks.

Mr Gillotti said, "We were happy to take the store over," when Mrs Duren said

she was ready to move on.

"Mabel will be missed by us as well as the people there," he said. "The key

element is, outside of the fact her personality will be missed, nothing will

be changed."

"We don't want people to think things will change radically," he said.

The name of the cleaners will remain the same, Mr Gillotti said. He hopes to

work with the owners of the shopping center to remodel and upgrade the

facility as well as to provide additional services.