Maya on Main closes
Published 8:32 pm Saturday, March 4, 2017
- The Maya Couture on Main store in downtown Suffolk was emptied out last week after the store merged with others throughout Hampton Roads at a new location in downtown Norfolk.
After three years in downtown Suffolk, a bridal boutique has closed up shop.
House of Maya Bridal Salons merged several locations from Norfolk and Virginia Beach, as well as the Maya Couture on Main in Suffolk, into a new location in downtown Norfolk.
Maya Couture on Main opened in early 2014 at 147 N. Main St. In 2015, the business expanded into a neighboring space, 149 N. Main St., and began offering prom wear as well.
Suffolk Economic Development Director Kevin Hughes said the city was sad to see the business go.
“We really liked working with Maya,” he said of business owner Maya Holihan. “She did some really fun, interesting things for retail development.”
But, Hughes said, the city will work to entice a new business in the space as soon as possible.
Holihan first moved to Norfolk in 2003 and purchased Tiffany’s Bridal on Military Highway in 2004. The name of that store was changed to Maya Couture in 2007.
In 2014, Maya Couture on Main was born in Suffolk to give Hampton Roads shoppers the boutique experience. The new location sold store models of designs that had been discontinued, which brides were able to buy straight off the rack.
The store also served to expand the company’s presence beyond Norfolk.
“The first time I came downtown, I was pretty much sold,” Holihan said in 2014 when the Suffolk store opened. She did not return recent calls requesting comment on the closing of the store.
The year after the Suffolk store opened, Holihan purchased two Virginia Beach-based stores as well as a Norfolk store in Ghent and licensed a wedding planning company.
In 2016, she purchased a bridal show that takes place every year at Norfolk Scope. She also plans to launch an online marketplace for wedding attire, goods and services soon, according to a press release.
The consolidated stores have moved to more than 13,000 square feet of retail space at 258 Granby St. in Norfolk. The building also has about 3,000 square feet on the second floor for the company’s headquarters and corporate offices, according to the release.
The Military Highway location will become a discount outlet for wedding and social occasion attire, the release stated.