close up shop verb1 •(US, informal) To stop what one is doing, especially in the context of a business.Schwartz’s Yiddish Art Theater closed up shop in the early 1950s, but show business carries on: the site is now a multiplex. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/travel/escapes/26yiddish.html?8dpc formsclosed up shop · closing up shop · closes up shop