St. Catharines Downtown Association

It was an exciting concept.

A retail outlet and studio to offer handmade hats and accessories and make wholesale items for other stores.

Started in 2006 by Tori Kosinec, Mad Cap Hats and Accessories at 38 James St. was a welcome and original addition to downtown St. Catharines.

Sagging retail sales ultimately dragged down the business, said Kosinec, who has decided to close Mad Caps.

"My heart is broken in half. It's so hard to throw in the towel," said the 51-year-old, who also lives downtown.

"I really tried everything I could to keep it going.

"I put my life savings into this, but retail sales kept going down."

Kosinec will continue operating her hat wholesale division at the location until it is rented, or until her lease expires in a few months. The retail store closes at the end of May.

Kosinec's hat-making journey began 23 years ago when she bought a second-hand knitting machine to make sweaters for her young son, Sean.

She made a hat for her then husband and business exploded.

Kosinec and her team have sewn hats and other items for stores and craft shows. For a time, she owned a store in Burlington.

In her early 40s, she returned to school to become a certified milliner — someone who makes and sells hats.

Kosinec then fell in love with an empty James Street location, which once housed the CD store Station To Station.

"You know, I put my heart and soul into my constant crusade there," she said. "I also wanted to help improve downtown, but others much smarter and mightier before me have fallen."

A breast cancer survivor, she is also known for charitable work in supplying hats to women going through chemotherapy.

Kosinec's eye-catching efforts have borne fruit on one successful front. By the summer, she'll be selling hats to 100 boutiques across Canada.

"Our wholesale is growing by leaps and bounds, but the retail has been dragging the company down," she said.

"It's very frustrating, but it's up to me to make my (retail) business work," Kosinec said, adding efforts need to be redoubled to help retailers and offices make a better go of it in the core.

"This is discouraging, because this city is so amazing."

Kosinec's hats will continue to be sold at festivals and shows and Kosinec may open another store in Niagara.

Tisha Polocko, general manager of the St. Catharines Downtown Association, said Mad Cap will be missed.

"Most definitely, our downtown retailers have had a rough go of it the last little while," Polocko said. "We're all trying to do our little bit to try and improve things and I think it will over time.

"Mad Hat is such a wonderful location. I think someone will definitely fill it soon."