NASHUA – The Elvis memorabilia has left the building.

For that matter, almost every bit of kitschy merchandise went out the doors of Building 19.

After 16 years of offering the wacky and the practical at cheap prices, Building 19 closed its Nashua store for good Wednesday night, leaving behind only a scattering of marked-down products but many memories.

Customers like Russ Gagne, for instance, will miss the chance to scout the store’s aisles with the hope of finding a bargain. The retail outlet still has 11 other locations in New England, including one in Manchester, but the Nashua store was a conveniently located discount mecca for Gagne and others.

“I’ll miss it. A store like this draws a lot of people,” Gagne said.

The Nashua resident had one arm in a sling while his other arm pushed a shopping cart bulging with two rugs only 10 percentage points away from being free merchandise.

That’s right, shoppers. On Wednesday, everything in Building 19 was marked down 90 percent.

Melanie Amarosa swung by on a business trip to buy a pair of steel-toe boots that were originally $39 but would cost only $3.90.

Marc Dandeneau doesn’t even golf, but he left Building 19 with a handful of clubs for a handful of dollars.

A man who refused to give his name because he was playing hookey from work rummaged through a rack of baseball batter gloves, looking for a homerun.

But shoppers Wednesday mostly had to settle for smaller scores because not much merchandise remained. Building 19 announced last month that it was closing the store, so there had been several weeks of clearance sales leading up to the last day.

Much of what was left were things that might not even be worth the discount: gel glue, glare filters for computers, dinosaur-themed baby bibs.

But people kept rummaging through racks of clothing, piles of rugs and tables full of boxes.

Around them, Building 19 employees disassembled ceiling lights, carted away merchandise tables and warehouse skids and rushed to the front of the store to help busy cashiers. The store’s more than 30 employees will be laid off because Building 19 couldn’t transfer them to other locations, management has said.

No one yet knows what retail endeavor eventually will set up shop at 420 Amherst St. But it probably won’t prominently display cartoon promotional posters of its owner, as Building 19 does of its founder Jerry Ellis.

One such caricature sat in the clothing section of the store, with Ellis hovering over a crystal ball and saying, “I see bargains in your future.”

The future could hold an empty building, at least until the economy recovers, according to Nashua attorney Gerald Prunier, who specializes in business law and commercial real estate development.

“I think when the commercial retail market comes back, it definitely is a prime site in the city of Nashua,” Prunier said.

The property has some drawbacks, but the right amount of prep work will allow a commercial venture to earn approval from city planners, Prunier said. “Something will be there,” he said.

But not even Prunier knows yet what will be there. No development proposal has been submitted to the city planning department for the location.

Prunier represented Walmart when the retail chain lost its bid to open a store at the parcel in 2006 – while Building 19 still had a lease there.

Residents and environmental groups loudly complained that the footprint of the proposed 140,000-square-foot Walmart store would exceed the boundaries of the property, potentially causing traffic jams and harming the nearby Pennichuck aquifer, part of the city’s drinking water supply. The city Planning Board agreed and rejected the Walmart proposal.

Building 19 continued to operate there for nearly five more years, until the owner of the property, AS-VR Realty LLC in Londonderry, declined to renew the lease.

Prunier doesn’t know if Walmart is interested in the property again. Nor does he know if Whole Foods has an eye on the land, he said.

Rumors abound in the community that the natural and organic food retailer will open its first New Hampshire store in Nashua once Building 19 clears out.

But aside from expressing interest in placing a store in the city, the Whole Foods chain declines to reveal where it is looking.

A Whole Foods spokeswoman didn’t return a phone call.

Nashua resident Frank Potter can remember when busy Amherst Street had just two lanes of travel and only a few traffic lights and stores.

Now, with the street full of traffic lights and chain outlets, he couldn’t care less what will replace Building 19.

“I don’t care much for progress. I like to see progress with a small ‘P,’” Potter said as he pushed a shopping cart full of discounted stuff, including insulation for a dog house. Potter doesn’t have a dog house, or even a dog, but at 90 percent off, the foam rubber was worth having.

Albert McKeon can be reached at 594-5832 or amckeon@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter