掲示板 Forums - Is this a typo?

I found this word '連常客' in a Japanese learning book, but I can't find it in the dictionary. There's table in the book that lists its meaning as regular customer, and I found '常客' in the dictionary with the same meaning, but the '連' at the front confuses me. It doest appear to be a prefix.

The full sentence:

そのため、その店の連常客が徐々に減っていきました。

This is the “things strung in a line” meaning of 連(れん)​, as in 連休(れんきゅう)​. The things being strung in a line are the visits of the repeat customers.

雪・にゃー is probably right, though.

You also hear it said as 常連さん :)