Seven months after announcing its closing, Village Bookstore still has a lot of books left.

When the Village Bookshop in Linworth announced in May that it would soon shut for good, the final closing date was set for the end of summer.

It is now December and the shop, at 2424 W. Dublin-Granville Road, remains open.

So when does owner Gary Friedlinghaus expect to be out of the building?

"That's one of the questions people have asked," he said. "I don't have the property sold yet, plus a lot of books remain to be sold. So I'm looking at the end of the year through mid-January.

"There's still a lot of product in the back of the store, the stock room and basement, more product than most people realized. So it took longer than I thought."

The store, which deals primarily in remainders and closeout books that are typically heavily marked down, recently had signs posted indicating 30 percent off all items. Friedlinghaus said he intends to cut prices further, to 50 percent off, starting Thursday.

On Wednesday, the first floor of the store was still well stocked with books on trains, planes and automobiles, as well as Civil War books, framed prints and other memorabilia.

Upstairs told another story.

A well-worn, faded easy chair sat at the end of a row of empty bookshelves. Nearby, a book entitled "Dreams Die Hard" sat on a shelf under a window. In the distance, the forlorn sound of a train horn wailed as snow fell.

"People coming by are taking this as a very personal loss," Friedlinghaus said. "Several have been brought to tears — and several wouldn't take the discount. I never would have imagined. The responses have totally amazed me."

The store was constructed in 1910 as the original Linworth United Methodist Church and was converted to a bookstore in 1969. NAI Ohio Equities has listed the 8,000-square-foot building, which stands on 1.4 acres, for $1.295 million.

The property is in contract, Friedlinghaus said, although "there are some issues that the potential buyer is working through."

The store officially began its going-out-of-business sale June 3. Friedlinghaus attributes the extended closing of his store to the fact that he owns the property.

The Village Bookshop's long goodbye may have put it in technical violation of state law.

While the Ohio Attorney General's office would not comment on a specific situation, the office referred questions about going-out-of-business sales to Ohio's Distress Sale Rule. That rule indicates that such sales shouldn't be conducted for more than 45 days, although the sale can be extended for an additional 45 days.

Friedlinghaus said he believed there was some leeway.

"Book stores are on the way out, so I think anyone would overlook the fact that we've had to extend the time (of closing)," he said. "There's really no future in bookstores (of larger size). There is a niche, though, for smaller bookstores with less overhead. They can survive."

Friedlinghaus, 77, was in the electronics business when he decided to change direction and buy the bookshop in 1983, turning it into a family affair, with his wife and daughter pitching in.

"So I'm making a judicious retreat from a business that has defined my life for the past 35 years," he said.

After the store finally closes and the building is sold, Friedlinghaus said he didn't know what he will do.

"Maybe I'm going to be retiring," he said. "But retirement is like a line in Shakespeare's Hamlet I quote. It's one of 'the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.'"

tferan@dispatch.com

@timferan