MILWAUKEE - George Watts & Son Inc. and The Watts Tea Shop located at 761 N. Jefferson St. are closing after today. The CEO made the announcement back in November. 

“The decision to close the store and restaurant were difficult but necessary steps in the evolution of our company,” said Sam Watts, CEO of George Watts & Son, Inc. “While the retail operations have performed well, the opportunities for company-wide growth and increased profitability are founded in our hard assets and the maximization of our other real estate endeavors. The elimination of our brick and mortar operations was a necessary next step and is in direct response to the way consumers are shopping and the way the new economy is transitioning. We have been an innovator and industry catalyst for our entire existence and we will continue to adapt our model as we view this strategy as the future of all retail operations in the luxury goods market.”

We caught up with customers today on their final day open. One man, Dick Goisman of Milwaukee, has been frequenting the tea shop once a week for the past 15 years. When asked what he'd miss the most, he said, "“Just the fact that it was a nice place to go and sort of represented an age that no longer exists. A gentility that isn’t part of today’s world, just a nice thing in general.”

Watts Tea Shop is open until 3 p.m. today but they are completely booked. 

The company will continue to operate as an online entity and will offer the specialty goods that were hallmarks of the brand for more than 140 years as an exclusively online enterprise. The company plans to retain space for its online operations in the current location and use it as a distribution hub.