Mystic — After more than 30 years in business, Suzanne and Bob Lane are closing their two Olde Mistick Village stores, Gray Goose Cookery and Elizabeth and Harriet Fine Gifts, as she heads into retirement.

She was unsuccessful in finding someone to take over either business, noting that the store size and the struggles of Internet competition make it "a big nut to crack."

Items at both stores are marked down ahead of their closing, with May 6 scheduled as their last day open.

Scattered about Gray Goose Cookery are colorful Le Creuset pots, knives, percolators and espresso machines, cutting boards designed like stacked books, Stonewall Kitchen sauces and glazes, and nearly every other kitchen device you can imagine — and probably a lot of gadgets you don't know exist.

Remaining in Elizabeth and Harriet are an array of Vera Bradley products, handbags, bath bombs, candles, greeting cards, jewelry holders, coloring books and more.

Lane, a Higganum native, grew up in a family with both culinary and artistic inclinations. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in graphic arts, she worked in restaurants in the Granite State.

Weary from the 12-hour days, she got her master's degree in higher education administration, with a specialization in adult learning, from the University of Connecticut.

That concentration would serve useful in her years holding cooking classes at Gray Goose Cookery.

Lane started a catalog of American handcrafts for Elizabeth and Harriet but it "didn't fly too well, so we opened a store. It was all by accident."

Lane opened Elizabeth and Harriet 32 years ago and Gray Goose Cookery two years after that. The gift shop was named for her middle name and that of her partner, while Gray Goose Cookery pays homage to a catering business idea her mother had that never came to fruition.

(Lane beat the vodka brand to the name; Grey Goose was not introduced until 1997.)

There used to be a goose, Gloria, in the water out front. Three years ago, Olde Mistick Village returned the geese to their owner because of duck-goose cohabitation concerns.

Lane has seen her share of changes in the kitchenware industry over the years, with the rise of silicone as a trend — silicone mitts and utensils. On the decline is cookbooks, with more and more people getting recipes online.

Writing a cookbook is one of the things Lane wants to do in her retirement, considering she's collected a lot of low-carb, low-fat recipes she cooks at home. She hopes to then do a tour around the country, talking about her book in the kitchen stores with whom she has connections.

Lane also plans to spend the winters in Florida with her husband, Bob, and to spend more time golfing and riding her bike.

One of the things Lane will miss the most about Gray Goose Cookery is Christmastime.

"It's sort of like a condensed timeframe," she said, "and we get to see everybody who shops throughout the year, and we get to see their kids." Lane recalls a college student coming in over the holidays and pointing out that she used to play under the stairs as a kid.

Walking around the story on Wednesday, Lords Point resident Bill Rogers said he's been coming to Gray Goose Cookery since it opened, and has taken a number of cooking classes there.

"I don't know where to go now for kitchen equipment," he said.

Wandering the store with cookie-cutters and kitchen gadgets in hand, Old Lyme resident Mary Lowe commented, "It was a unique place. I mean, if you couldn't find something you came here."

e.moser@theday.com