CHATSWORTH TWP -- Marilyn Schmidt never planned to own a general store.

A pharmacologist and real estate agent by trade and painter, author and cook on the side, the now 88-year-old woman has spent the past 18 years as the face behind the counter at Buzby's, a general store on Main Street in Chatsworth.

It's the kind of place that's become harder to find in 2017 as mom and pop shops have given way to strip malls, chains and online retailers. Books with recipes and local history -- some by Schmidt herself, others by local experts -- are stacked up by the dozens: "Mustard Magic" (hers) and "The Domestic Life of the Jersey Devil" (by another historian) stand on a rack for browsing.

Antique glassware sits on display just steps away from boxes of mugs that bear the Buzby name, and emerald green bumper stickers that read "Piney Power!" are piled on the counter. Jars nearly overflow with sea shells and pine cones, while washboards, salt and peppers shakers and paintings lay scattered around the shop's shelves.

All of that must go on June 17, the final day 152-year-old Buzby's will be open for business.

The store, which first opened its doors in 1865, is now a state and national historic landmark. But 20 years ago, before Schmidt came in and put her own touches on the century-old enterprise and fought for historical classification, it was a shuttered shop, in danger of never opening again.

"When it closed, I was very heartbroken," Schmidt said. She asked her friends and others in the area to purchase it before thinking, "Why don't I?"

"I don't think I realized I was 70 years old," she said.

So Schmidt set about gathering the funds to purchase the building, which had stood vacant for seven years, and began to plan renovations. Just after she purchased the store, a fire destroyed a garage and outhouse, but spared the store and apartment.

When Schmidt moved in shortly after, she found that she was sharing the space with not only her cat, but more than 300 bats who had taken up residence throughout the building.

"It was a three-ring circus," she said. "But we all got along."

She cleaned the building up, found a chef to serve food in the dining area and opened her own shop of antiques, knick-knacks and literature on the Pine Barrens, which she named the Chesire Cat.

"Sometimes I'm here, and sometimes I'm not," she explained of the name.

The store has mostly been open from Thursday to Sunday, seeing locals as well as tourists from around the globe pass through its door. A world map hangs behind the counter littered with pushpins, each designating a city, state or country from where shoppers have come.

The most common question she gets from tourists, she said, is where they might catch a glimpse of the Jersey Devil.

"No problem," she tells them. "It's very simple. On a bad day, look behind this counter."

But as she's grown older, maintaining the store has become more difficult. Following a prolonged illness and period of hospitalization, Schmidt is back in her home, but said she can't keep up with the demands of running the four-day-a-week operation.

Now, she said, it's time for her close up and prepare to move on with her life.

The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday for the sale, which Schmidt's friends will run. She's hoping she feels well enough to attend for some of the day.

While her time at the store is coming to a close, Schmidt said she hopes a new owner will purchase the building and turn it into a cafe and shop, much like the setup she created. There's a full, commercial kitchen along with spaces for tables sectioned off from the shop, and a three-bedroom apartment upstairs.

"There's no sort of town-gathering spot," she said. "You have to go seven miles to get a cup of coffee."

As she enters full retirement, Schmidt hopes to finish work on a few more self-published books she's writing, and said her love of history will spur her to continue researching the area.

"I just want to close up and recover for as long as I can," she said. "But it's been fun."

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amahoover. Find NJ.com on Facebook.