UPDATE (10:15 a.m., April 26)

According to David DeVincenzi, son of Genova Deli owner Dominic DeVincenzi, the family is continuing to work on finding a new location within the city of Oakland.

“We’re working on a couple of places,” he said on the phone from the Temescal shop.

Where that might be exactly, DeVincenzi was unwilling to divulge.

“I can’t tell you that,” he said. “But yes, that is still a possibility.”

For now, their base of operations will move up to their Napa store, as their Oakland factory continues to supply product to that location as well as Andronico’s markets.

To the chagrin of just about everyone in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood and beyond, owners of universally popular Genova Deli have decided to close their flagship store.

According to a message on the Genova website, owner Dominic De Vincenzi announced that they would be closing the 90-plus year old Italian deli at the end of this month. As noted by the Merc, the store’s last day will be April 30, the final chance for customers to stock up on homemade pastas, sauces, and overstuffed Italian sandwiches. Their Napa store will remain open, as will their production facility on Broadway.

“We are humbled by all the good wishes and love from the community and want to thank you for so many years of support,” the family said in a statement on the site.

Although the announcement comes as a shock, it didn’t come out of the blue . News broke in January that the store could close thanks to a threatened rent hike by the landlords of the Temescal Plaza shopping center where Genova has been located since 1996. The two parties tried for nearly four months to work out an agreement, but ultimately couldn’t come to terms, although De Vincenzi’s wife, Patti, told the Mercury News that it wasn’t the rent hike wasn’t the deciding factor.

Instead she cited the general rising cost of doing business in Oakland, which would have meant increasing food prices, something they didn’t want to do.

In what may be some consolation to the neighborhood, John Dobrovich, who represents the property owner, said the landlords are looking to bring in an operator that would run a similar deli concept and hopefully keep on some of the 20 or so current Genova employees.

“We are greatly disappointed that Genvoa will be closing,” said Dobrovich on behalf of the owners. “However, we respect their decision and thank the Devincenzi family for their many years of providing such a wonderful deli for the Temescal community.”

Dobrovich said they were trying to find someone on short notice to keep the store from closing at all, but if that failed the space would go dark until they secured a new tenant. Dobrovich asked anyone interested in leasing the space to contact leasing broker, Sami Zeger, at Retail West: sami@retailwestinc.com or 415.829.4800.

Genova Delicatessen, 5095 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 652-7401. genovadelioakland.com