After 63 years, Carlton’s in Rehoboth Beach is closing

After 63 years, Carlton’s Men’s & Women’s Apparel in Rehoboth Beach is closing. Owners Trey and Marcia Kraus announced the early-December closure in a Sept. 27 press release.

“We want to thank all of our wonderful customers and awesome employees from all over the world who made Carlton’s an iconic fixture in the Rehoboth Beach community. We are also grateful to our landlord, sales reps, vendors and service partners who have made it easy to provide amazing apparel and service consistently through those 63 years,” said the Krauses in a prepared statement.

Located on the north side of Rehoboth Avenue’s ocean block, the clothing store was founded in 1960 by Harry Derrickson. The Krauses, both with previous clothing retail backgrounds, purchased the business from Harry’s son Robert Derrickson in 2005.

The morning after the announcement, Trey said Carlton’s was a good business, and he and his wife have enjoyed coming to Rehoboth.

The Derrickson family still owns the building, and Kraus said there’s a planned renovation, which would force the business to be closed for five to seven months. That was part of the reason, but only one of a million, he said.

“It was a whole lot of little things,” said Kraus.

Kraus said he and Marcia sat down, made a list of pluses and minuses, and determined that staying open just didn’t make sense. It comes down to finances, and the formula wasn’t working, he said. 

Kraus said he’ll miss his employees and customers, but he’ll also miss feeling like he was part of the community. Having this business allowed the Krauses to do so many cool things, Trey said.

The press release said, and Kraus confirmed, they’re still looking into a new storefront, but the search hasn’t been easy. There’s a certain amount of space needed, and so far it’s either been too big or too small, he said.

The announcement said a clearance sale to sell everything will begin Friday, Oct. 6, and will end when all is gone.

Kraus said people with gift certificates and store credits are going to have to use them. Now is the time to come in and redeem them, he said.

For more information on Carlton’s, 31 Rehoboth Ave., call 302-227-3590, email sales@carltonsapparel.com or go to carltonsapparel.com. The store is open 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to show the correct starting date for when the clearance sale will begin.