After more than seven years in business, Larry Bush said he will close his locally-owned grocery store this weekend. 

Bush owns and manages Bush’s IGA on Main Street in downtown Winchester. The grocery store will close for good at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Bush said he has been trying to sell the store for several months. 

“I had the store sold twice, but both times it fell through,” he said. “So I have to close.” 

Bush owns the store and the inventory, but not the building at 123 Main St. across from the Winchester Post Office. 

Both times he was close to selling he depleted his inventory. 

“This first time it fell through I had to restock the whole store and it cost $50,000 to $60,000,” he said. “This time I can’t put that kind of money back up to restock it again.” 

Bush said he could have closed the store in January, but opted to try to sell to keep the store open for the community and his employees. 

“I’ve stayed as long as I can,” he said. “It’s been two and a half months of trying to get this thing sold and it falling through. The reason I stayed as long as I have is because I wanted the community to have it, plus all my employees keep their jobs.

“It’s heart-breaking for me. But I had to what I had to do.” 

Bush said the business hasn’t made money for a couple of years, which makes it difficult to conduct maintenance on equipment or buy more. 

The grocery will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday with deals like 50 percent off produce and 5 percent off dairy and meat. 

Bush will continue to operate Bush’s Bread Store on Lexington Avenue, which he said has been converted to a convenience store.