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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Brace yourselves for bad news, bratwurst lovers: Alpine Sausage Kitchen is on its way out.

After more than 40 years in business, the market will close for good at the end of the month.

Bill Schmaeh, who owns Alpine with Vera Scherer, expressed gratitude for the loyal customers whose appetite for brats, Vienna sausages and schnitzel kept the place going all these years but said falling sales and advancing age made this the right time to close.

He said their facility — which is USDA inspected — used to have some significant wholesale clients in El Paso, but that business has declined sharply in recent years as the German Air Force pulled out of Fort Bliss.

“We had our good times,” he said. “It’s not that we’re going to be crying or complaining. It’s just all our machinery is getting old and (we’re) not doing that wholesale business we used to do.”

Schmaeh and Scherer had the business for the past 24 years, and it had been around nearly 20 years before they took over.

Alpine Sausage Kitchen is located at 2800 Indian School NE.