A "Thanks to all who graced our doors" sign hangs outside just above a "Going out of business" notice.

Orangeburg's variety store E-Mart announced Friday that it would close its doors after being in business about 25 years.

The store, located at Courthouse Square, will conduct a going-out-of business sale through the end of December with official closure projected in January 2005.

Store owner Danny Ellis says placing the "For Sale" sign up on the store's front was one of the "hardest things I have done in years."

He says store sales plummeted during the city's streetscape project and never fully recovered.

"The business just went to nothing during the beautification (streetscape) deal," Ellis said. "Parking is the main thing uptown. I lost all parking in front of my store. It just killed me."

Ellis said the downtown project, which began in September 2001 and ran through February 2003, closed off about 10 of his parking spaces in front of his store. Sales before the streetscape project were up about 50 percent compared to those in its aftermath.

Ellis showed how sales figures at the store from January to May 2001 were $79,939. During the same time period in 2002, sales were down about 47 percent at $47,457. Sales from January to May 2004 were $15,940, and the year's total sales through October were $26,375.

"The corner was good to us," he said. "We met a ton of good people and made us a good living for awhile, but you can't keep operating just because you like it. Everything just kept going down and down, and there was no light at the end of the tunnel."

Ellis said that while some inquiries have been put forth about the building's sale, no formal discussions have occurred.

Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association Executive Director Bernice Tribble said she was disappointed E-Mart was closing but added that both the city and DORA placed radio and newspapers advertisements to inform the public of the streetscape's conclusion and the downtown shopping availability.

"We hate to see any business close," Tribble said. "It is a loss for downtown, but hopefully this will create an opportunity for another business."

However, Tribble said many have informed her they come downtown because of the streetscape work.

"Hal Johnson (Orangeburg County Development Commission executive director) has said projects he brings are impressed with what we are doing and that we are a city on the move," Tribble said. "I think we have created an atmosphere downtown to attract shoppers."

E-Mart's closing is the second long-time business in the square in the process of going out of business.

Next door neighbor Bridal Path/Smoaks of Orangeburg is the other.

Store owner Sandra Haigler initially attributed her decision to close to the retirement of her husband of 41 years, Adrian, from the Okonite Plant at the first of the year. The couple expressed their desire to have more time to spend with one another and to pursue other avenues.

However, a conversation with Haigler Monday afternoon revealed the business, too, had seen its sales plummet roughly 25 percent during the height of the streetscape project.

Recovery for Haigler, like for Ellis, has been slow in coming.

"When you go through something like that for six to eight months, it is hard to recover overnight," Haigler said, noting that parking during the project was particularly difficult. "When people come downtown, they want to pull up to the door. It (streetscape) killed us."

Haigler expects the store to officially close by the end of January.

Danny Ellis first rented the Courthouse Square building in 1980 as a locale to store his goods from his auction business. Auction goods, however, continued to increase, propelling Ellis to purchase the building and start what would be later called E-Mart.

Ellis' wife, Nina, assumed the primary managerial role in the store for the better part of 16 years, before the couple's daughter, Tammy Irick, ran it through the commencement of the city's streetscape project.

Ellis' son, D.J., took over the managerial position after streetscape, but the situation eventually got to the point where closing the doors was the only option and the "last resort."

"We really did not want to do it," D.J. Ellis said, commenting on the closure. "We started talking about it when the streetscape first started and said that it may come to this. We were not going to give up on this because you hate to see anything you put so much into go down."

And so, the family continued to fight.

"Our customers were always loyal," D.J. Ellis said. "We looked at our customers like they were our family."

The store close-out is expected to last through December. Prices throughout the store range anywhere from 10 to 75 percent off. Store hours will run Thursday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturdays, the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more information on the closing of E-mart, call 536-6497 or 534-8718.

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