The obvious story is as plain as the going-out-of-business signs in the windows of Belles and Beaus Bridal and Formal Wear in downtown Austin.

The deeper meaning of those signs is the parting of ways of two women who made it their mission to deliver special memories.

The dress shop’s owner, Marie Fryer, and seamstress Amber VanReese have been together for 17 or 18 years — long enough to not know for certain. With Fryer’s retirement, VanReese has moved on to a solo venture, “SewChic Alterations.” She will rent formal wear and do alterations from space at Hastings Shoe and Repair, also downtown.

Together, the pair have seen years of dance costumes and the wedding gowns, replacing zippers in jackets, altering suits and hemming sleeves. There’s no way to count how many adults and children have stood on the carpeted wooden box in the shop being fitted since the shop opened Nov. 1, 1996. The squirmers were not necessarily the kids.

“Some kids stand more still because I think they are afraid of getting poked more than some of the adults,” VanReese said. “Adults, they’re holding their cellphones or playing with their hair …”

“ … Or wearing shoes that are not comfortable,” Fryer added. They laughed together at the memories

VanReese, who started sewing at the age of 10, later sought a job at Belles and Beaus at the suggestion of her aunt, because Fryer “did stuff for the theater and dance … she knew I liked to sew.”

“Amber said a while back that she was little she wanted to be an artist, and I think she has become one,” Fryer said.

VanReese described her job at Belles and Beaus simply as making adjustments — “pretty much anything people brought in that needed work done.”

Fryer said she was so much more than a seamstress: “I bounce ideas off of her. She knew every aspect of this business. I could go somewhere and if she was here I could relax.”

Being able to get away for a break from a small business is almost impossible, Fryer said.

“I don’t think people realize that when you have a business like this you don’t get to go for a weekend,” she said. “Because people expect you to be in your store in case an emergency would happen.”

The hardest time she could remember was going a week with only 10 hours of sleep to complete a wedding order.

“We’ve been here doing our jobs,” Fryer said, “trying very hard to help people have as wonderful a day as possible.”

Fryer personally tried to be on hand with every single customer to make sure they were happy with their fit, she said.

“We have worked very hard here to have people have it be a special memory for them — their wedding,’ she said.

The pair share a passion for art of wedding dresses.

“It can actually stir your soul,” Fryer said. From the beauty or the design to the quality of the fabric, working on them is a joy.

But, it’s still work. It can take eight hours to sew in lace hems on a dress.

“It takes a while to get around those little leaves and the flower and every little thing that sticks out that needs to be tacked down,” said VanReese. “Otherwise, it’s going to look funny.”

Of her retirement, Fryer said, “I can’t wait to spend some time with my children and their children.”

She and her husband have three children and six grandchildren. The closest of them is  six hours away

“(On Dec. 17) I’ll be locking the doors at 4 o’clock,” said owner Marie Fryer. That’s not the exact time she expects to walk away, however. A number of organizations will be coming by to take away what it left. She also plans to make donations to the Matchbox Children’s Theater and the Gerrard Academy.