Deborah Van Cleve sold her eponymous bridal emporium in Paoli to her longtime manager, Ashley Grape, after nearly four decades, and has returned to her first love: interior design, writes Caroline O’Halloran for the Savvy Main Line.
“I never thought I would sell,” said Van Cleve. “But I’m 77 years old. Sometimes you get to a point when it’s time to make a change.”
Van Cleve, who began her career with a design business fifty years ago, took just one day off before starting her new full-time job at Window Concepts. This is where she will her design skills and vast network of contacts to bring in new clients.
“I’m not sad at all,” she said. “I feel energized and carefree.”
Van Cleve’s local fashion career began with cozy boutiques in Phoenixville and Malvern. She opened her retail location in the former Paoli Design Center – now known as the Van Cleve Pavilion – in 2017. She designed the entire space herself. Since the end of the pandemic, her business has been booming.
“Sales have been super-strong so it seemed like a good time to sell,” she said.
She can be found at her new job just a few blocks away from her former fashion empire.
Read more about Deborah Van Cleve selling her business after decades in the Savvy Main Line.
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