Luray ? Harlan Krehbiel has held out hope for the last seven months that someone might step forward and take over the community’s only grocery store.

After twice getting his hopes up, he’s no longer ready to delay the inevitable, and has allowed the store shelves to become mostly bare.

He’s listed the building for sale, and hopes he’s struck a deal for the freezer and refrigeration equipment for an up-and-coming Kansas grocery store.

“I’m ready to do it,” the 81-year-old Krehbiel said of closing the grocery and finally retiring for good. But he’s also worried about the effect it will have on the community.

“The town needs a grocery store,” he said.

Krehbiel had hoped to clear out more of what’s left on the shelves, but especially the candy bars and soft drinks that account for a significant share of the inventory.

He hopes he’s found a place for the refrigerated shelves and walk-in cooler, and he has an offer for the shelving.

It’s the building that might prove to be the biggest burden.

Krehbiel is unsure what the demand might be, or what it could be used for.

If there isn’t much demand, he’s even considering the possibility of selling the pressed tin ceiling panels. He figures a lowered ceiling wouldn’t be too expensive, if the tin panels are worth enough.

Krehbiel, along with his wife, Helen, have owned the Luray Grocery for almost 8 years.

“Believe me, it’s hard to shut down,” he said. “It’s not hard to get rid of the perishables. It’s hard emotionally. Not for my benefit but for the benefit of the community.”

That’s why he’s put it off for seven months, even though back in October the shelves were nearly bare.

That’s when a couple made an overture about taking over the business. Even after that fell through, he held out hope, and another couple expressed an interest.

“I sure thought twice I had it sold,” he said.

It would have been a tough task, however, as Krehbiel said he never was paid in his eight years of owning the business. His pay came in the form of groceries.

And there’s the issue of support from the community.

Some people patronize the store, but many don’t, he said.

As people go to Hays, for example, to visit a doctor, Krehbiel understands many people stop and buy groceries at Walmart.

“You lose business that way,” he said. “But, put myself in their shoes, I’d probably to the same thing.”

After thinking about it a minute, however, Krehbiel said he still buys all of his gas in Luray. Before he bought the store, he and his wife bought their groceries there.

Although he said as many as 30 percent of the town’s population of nearly 200 might have supported the store, he backed away from that number.

“That’s high,” he said. “I couldn’t name 75 people. I probably could name 20 to 25 people.”

Krehbiel is looking forward to some free time, relief from the daily task of opening the store and closing up every night.

Instead, he plans to spend time doing some woodworking.

“I’ve got a piddle shop,” he said. “I’ve got a woodworking shop.”

He recently completed a set of end tables and a cedar chest, which has drawn requests for more.

“I don’t want that to become my business,” Krehbiel said. “That’s my hobby. That’s the thing I can do, I like to do.”

And, yes, he’s still holding out hope.

“I just always felt like in my mind it was going to happen,” he said of the grocery surviving. “I guess I was overoptimistic.”