Posted Tuesday, November 8, 2016 7:00 pm

Milton Fukuda sat in his office in the mezzanine of Aldrich's Market in Uptown Port Townsend Monday, reflecting on the market's 121-year history, and his decision to close in three months.

“It's the oldest grocery store in the state operating under the same name,” said Fukuda, who came out of retirement a decade ago in Sequim to buy the store with his wife, Renee, and son Scott.

Fukuda had planned on putting up a giant sign announcing the pending closure on Jan. 31, 2017, but he wanted to check one last time to see if a deal he had hoped would work out had, in fact, fallen apart. He still wasn't 100 percent sure that the deal was dead.

“But we can't expect a white knight to make an offer,” said Fukuda. “I think it's too late.”

There was a farewell party for a long-time Aldrich's employee last Friday night. Fukuda decided not to tell anyone then. He broke the news to employees on Saturday, Nov. 5 and to a handful of customers who've been coming in for the decade the Fukuda family has owned the business.

“It can only be run as a mom-and-pop store,” he said of Aldrich's, which has been at the heart of the Uptown neighborhood for decades.

The Fukudas have not made a secret of their desire to sell the business. Most customers have known for months that the family's 10-year lease is set to expire Jan. 31, 2017.

Earlier this year, Fukuda said an effort to sell the business online generated about 18 inquiries, with four or five people actually interested in looking at numbers.

And even more recently, he said there was an interested buyer who was negotiating directly with the building owner, who lives in California, to lease the space that Aldrich's now occupies. The space includes the basement, first floor and mezzanine where Maxwellbean Specialty Deli and Retail operates, and Fukuda has his office. There is a dining area for people to eat their purchases from the deli. Port Townsend High School students often gather there after school.

“It's devastating,” Fukuda said of the impact he expects to hear from the community once more people learn about the closure.

“You've got to realize this is going to spread like wildfire. You don't need to tell too many people for everyone to know,” he said he had told his wife.

“Despite all the travails we've been through,” Fukuda said he never stopped enjoying the look newcomers had when they came into the store for the first time.

He told his wife that once the "closure" sign goes up on Wednesday morning, “It's done.”

Fukuda said he won't buy any more wine and will sell what is on the shelves for a few weeks before putting things on sale to clear the inventory. A popular holiday gingerbread house contest that typically happens in December also won't take place.

Fukuda came out of retirement 10 years ago to buy the store, in part, for son Scott.

“Ten years,” Fukuda said. “It sure went by fast.”

Fukuda said the store had gone through hard times shortly after they bought it. Plus, it was closed for three weeks in 2012 during a $2.5 million building renovation that was also difficult. Fukuda said 2013 was better and by 2014 and 2015, the store, which employs 20 people, was making a profit.

“The community has come back to fully support us and we've made a profit the last two years,” he said.

HISTORY

Aldrich's Market opened in 1895 when Clark Aldrich bought a variety store from Robert Gray, according to Aldrich's website. That store was known for selling school books and stationary but also had fruits, vegetables and tobacco.

On Aug. 4, 2003, the store was destroyed in a fire caused by juveniles playing with fireworks. Two years later, Aldrich's reopened thanks to “an outpouring of support from the community.” There was a line to get into the store, the Leader reported back then.

The market sold in 2007 to the Fukudas and they had a 10-year lease on the space in the building.

It's that lease that has been problematic, Fukuda said. He said Aldrich's has been paying triple net monthly, and that more than doubled when a new owner bought the building. And while that owner was willing to reduce the amount, Fukuda said the new building owner was unwilling to allow the Fukudas to use the new numbers to sell the business.

“It has to be assignable” to another buyer, he said of any new lease that would go with the business.

FIRST REACTION

Reaction to the pending closure started Monday morning with one long-time customer calling the Leader almost in tears saying the community lost this “beloved store once.”

“It's gong to rip out the fabric of Uptown,” she said, not wanting her name to be used.

Employees also are wondering if there's any last-chance hope of saving the store.

Karen Macrae, who has been with the store for 10 months, said she had talked to several people who weren't aware of the impending closure.

“It's still two months away. There's always a possibility,” Macrae said Tuesday morning.

“We get regulars, the guy who forgets his can every day and we keep it for him, the guy who comes in every night who is a high-risk helicopter pilot. You form relationships,” she said of the sense of community she was getting, which she and others would miss if the store closes for good.