By Greg Goldfarb

Correspondent

Terri Zenisek stood in the middle of All Things Educational, talking with family, friends and movers.

They came to help her close up shop.

"It's been extremely traumatic," said Zenisek, who co-owned the teachers' supply store with her husband, George. "We felt this store was important to the community."

But on April 30, the Zeniseks shut down the store - perhaps only temporarily.

"The economy killed us," said Terri Zenisek, 58, who lives in Hatton Point. "Right now, we don't know what's going on. We may relocate in about two months. If not, I'll be in the job market."

While the Zeniseks ran All Things Educational for three years, the business' roots span more than five decades, back to when Terri's late parents - Joe Stone and Janet Paris Stone - owned Janet's Office Machines and Supplies.

Janet's had operated on High Street, near the Midtown Tunnel, from 1951 until Janet Stone died in 2004. That's when the Zeniseks bought the educational supply portion of the family business and opened All Things Educational in the Churchland Shopping Center, Terri Zenisek said.

"It was a calling," she said. "It was our mission to provide a place to help teachers and parents achieve the best possible means of learning."

After graduating Churchland High School in 1968, the Portsmouth native soon married and began taking accounting and early childhood education courses at Tidewater Community College. She's also a paralegal.

Accounting skills served her well while working at Janet's which, in its heyday, employed 26 people, had about 2,000 charge-account customers and about $1 million in annual sales.

Despite Janet's success, the Zeniseks' business venture was up-and-down.

Originally, All Things Educational opened at 5772 Churchland Blvd. with 1,600 square-feet of space. A year later, it moved eight doors down, into the old Got-It Video store, with 6,500 square-feet. In the end, the business had $75,000 in remaining inventory, which the Zeniseks plan to continue liquidating.

"I know we've done good in the community. I don't regret anything. I'd do it all again," Terri Zenisek said. "But the young kids are what I'll miss the most. They're something you can mold until they become adults."

Over the last few years, the store's customer base never wavered, she said. About three-quarters of them were teachers, the remaining, mostly parents.

"But the average daily sales went down tremendously," she said. "The schools have cut their budget and PTAs are not making as much money as they used to. The past six months were really bad."

Sherri Garris, a 1995 Churchland High School graduate, worked 10 to 15 hours a week in her parents' store.

"There's a lot of customers who don't want her to leave," Garris said. "They love her to death."

Joyce Watford, a Cavalier Manor resident, 17-year friend, customer and a private school teacher, said the business will be missed.

"Terri had supplies that most schools need," she said. "If she's not here, the next nearest store like hers is in Greenbrier."

To reach the Zeniseks, call 484-8481.

Greg Goldfarb,

greggoldfarb@msn.com