Groton — It's been a great 45-year run for Sewtique — and if owner Evelyn Siefert Kennedy has anything to say about it, there are many more years ahead for the all-things-textile store.

The only difference: Kennedy is bowing out of the business.

She doesn't know exactly when that will happen, but said it will be by the end of this year. Kennedy is shopping around what she calls a turnkey business with a client list of about 2,000 who come for a host of fabric-related services, including textile restoration.

"Sewtique is very, very well known locally," Kennedy said. And with the store's website that dates back two decades, "They come from across the nation," she added, as well as abroad, meaning that only about half her business is local.

Kennedy, who said she will make herself available to the new owner for up to a year to smooth the transition, said she hates to let go of the business, but knows it is time. She has had a series of health issues, including a minor stroke earlier this month, and wants to find a new owner so the community will continue to receive the services they have come to expect from Sewtique.

"I gave birth to this organization," she said. "It's like you think about your child."

"With a small business, it's all hands on," said Kennedy's husband, Fred Commentucci. "You can't easily walk away from it."

Sewtique started on Bridge Street in June 1970 after Kennedy received a degree in textiles and clothing from the University of Rhode Island, where she would later complete a master's degree. The store sold fabrics, held sewing classes and did sewing machine sales and repairs.

Sewtique had other incarnations on Poquonnock Road and the Groton Plaza Court, adding such services as fur and leather repair as well as bridal gown alterations and cleaning. In 1990, Kennedy bought Sewtique's current building at 391 Long Hill Road, expanding into the preservation of gowns, linens, fur and leather while increasing the staff to its current six.

All along the way, Kennedy said, expansion of Sewtique's services has been key to its survival.

"A small business needs diversification," she said. "I wouldn't have stayed in business without it."

Another key has been assembling a dedicated staff and making sure that customers get answers to their textile questions — whether or not Sewtique can provide the service.

"Sewtique has answered questions on anything in textiles," Kennedy said. "If we don't have the answer, we will attempt to find the answer."

"I always knew if I went in there I would be taken care of completely," said Joyce Resnikoff, co-owner of Olde Mistick Village, who has been a Sewtique customer for years.

Rob Simmons, the former 2nd District congressman, said he has brought Sewtique several suits to be specially tailored over the years and has been impressed by the results.

"That's the kind of specialized service that a company like Sewtique provides and you can't get elsewhere," he said.

Kennedy, who has written two books in her field and is working on a third, said she has rarely had to advertise for help, finding staff with the requisite skills largely from those who have stopped in to inquire about work. Many, as it turns out, are minorities, with backgrounds including the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Thailand and Poland.

"I love, love, love it," said Damaris Rivera, one of Sewtique's more recent employees.

Susan Landon, a longtime employee, pointed excitedly to a beautiful kimono that Sewtique is restoring so it can be put on display. These types of projects are a regular occurrence at the shop, thanks largely to an Internet presence that brings in up to 10 inquiries a day.

"The Internet really helped our business a lot," Kennedy said. "Without the Internet, our market would have been confined to eastern Connecticut."

Kennedy said the website would be transferred to any new owner who stepped forward, and it is likely the current staff could stay intact as well. Sewtique stopped selling fabrics years ago, but it has a wide variety of other services, working on tapestries, clothing, pillows, rugs, bedding, curtains, tablecloths, military and religious garb — even the odd baseball glove and lampshade — while also having separate areas for alterations and cleaning and pressing delicate fabrics.

Kennedy hopes in semi-retirement to continue with some of her textile-preservation work, she said, and perhaps volunteer at the York Correctional Institution's women's prison or the Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut, both in Niantic. 

"I'm an optimist," said Kennedy, who believes someone is waiting in the wings to take over the business and the building where it all happens. "I feel like the Lord is going to help me."

l.howard@theday.com

Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow 

What: Sewtique

Who: Evelyn Siefert Kennedy

Where: 391 Long Hill Road, Groton

Years in business: 45

Number of employees: 6

Phone: (860) 445-7320; 1-800-332-9122

Online: www.sewtiqueonline.com; email: sewtique@aol.com