DEL MAR, Calif. (KGTV) -- For business owner Leanne Wynder, there will never be an obstacle quite big enough, including the one stores are facing right now, that will close their beloved Sweetpea Children's Store in Del Mar.
"We've been through recessions, floods, fires and the recessions in 2008," Leanne said.
Since the 1980's the store has served generation after generation.
"Everyday a customer will come in and say i used to shop here for my kids and now I'm getting it from it for my grandkids."
It was primarily ran by Leanne's mother, who was the founder, until tragedy struck this past January for both the family and the business.
"I took over for my mom when she passed away," Leanne said. "For the last four years I was in a completely different role in the financial world. It was a little bit of a change to get back to retail and to get back to buying and merchandising."
When Leanne's mother passed, she said her family couldn't wrap their heads around selling the store in which she and her siblings practically grew up in.
"The store is my sibling. It's the fourth child my mom could not have and so I have grown up with it and i wasn't ready to let go of that just yet."
Then, just as Leanne was adjusting to the change of leaving her full-time corporate job to fulfill the role of the store's new owner and manager, another turn of events hit two months later, when shops had to close their doors amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
"We are really just trying to have a strong presence on Instagram and Facebook." They also created a website that would allow customers to shop their apparel online.
"It's perseverance and attaining on, we never give up. We've always tried to look at the positive so we have to turn this into something good. She never gave up, she would not let something take her down like this. She was going to win no matter what."
