'I’m going to miss this': Beloved store closing its doors after 45 years in business

RIDGEWOOD, Queens (PIX11) -- They do not make them like they used to and it is the end of an era. 

Two cliches that so aptly describe how people in one Queens neighborhood are feeling about the closing of one much-loved card and gift store. 

 “I’m going to miss this,” Valarie Wornian, the co-owner of E & J Cards and Gifts, told PIX11 News. “This has been our life,” she added. 

For close to five decades, E & J Cards and Gifts have been part of the fabric of people's lives in Ridgewood, Queens, and beyond. 

Look at the history packed into each shelf. 

This Myrtle Avenue store has been a labor of love for Alan and Valarie Wornian. 

Alan‘s father passed it on to his son in 1975. 

But now with the rent going up 50% to 15,000 a month and shopping styles changing, the  Wornians decided to pack it in. 

“I have few sales people coming in so after hours I have to go online for the orders,” Wornian told PIX11 News. “And then there are no packing slips,” she added. 

E & J cards specialize in so many hard-to-find items, like cards for priests and nuns celebrating their 50th jubilees, Valentine’s Day cards in several languages and coins, and cards for those in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. 

“It signifies the time we put in to stay clean,” Ruben Rodriguez, a customer told PIX11 News. “I am very proud of that,” he added. 

The Wornians wanted to make sure they stayed open for their biggest day of the year, Valentine’s Day. 

“Young men who are in the area always remember that they bought their first balloon here,” Wornian said. 

Starting the day after Valentine’s Day, February 15, and for the next 10 days E& J Cards will have a huge sale here for the community, the Wornians’ way of giving back to the customers they love. 

And then on March 1, it will be more time for travel, their six grandsons, and all those beautiful memories.