By Riley Worth, For the Tribune

At 7:54 p.m. Tuesday, Jan Schewe signed her check for $17.87, and handed it to the woman behind the counter.

&8220;Best of luck to you in the future,&8221; said Schewe, standing among a bunch of empty or nearly empty book shelves, most of which have price tags on them.

Schewe filled her arms with the books she had purchased at an 80 percent discount and moments later headed to her idling car on Broadway Avenue.

At 7:57 p.m. the woman behind the counter, &8220;The Constant Reader&8221; proprietor Grace Haukoos, hit the switch for the neon red &8220;OPEN&8221; sign hanging in the front window, darkening it for the last time.

With that, a popular bookstore in downtown Albert Lea closed after 17 years as a modern rarity:

An independently owned bookstore. With it went another piece of small-town America.

According to Haukoos, the closest independently owned bookstores are now in Forest City, Iowa, Owatonna and Rochester.

No, Haukoos did not close because of lack of business. No, Haukoos did not close because of loss of market share to monster box chain bookstores. No, she did not close because of Amazon.com. Sure, those rumors will persist, but the truth is simple: Haukoos, 67, wanted to retire.

Until 7:01 p.m. Tuesday when Haukoos ripped it down, the store’s front window had prominently displayed this fact &045; &8220;Retirement Sale,&8221; it read, in black letters on a big, square piece of white paper.

&8220;I’ve had two years since I decided to do this,&8221; said Haukoos, whose known since mid-November she was closing the store prior to Christmas based on remaining inventory. &8220;It was not a snap decision.&8221;

A select few customers didn’t care about how Haukoos made her decision, but instead were upset by the decision itself, which included Haukoos’ choice not to sell to someone interested in operating it as a bookstore.

&8220;A woman went around telling people that it was selfish of me not to sell,&8221; Haukoos said, adding such people werein the minority. &8220;Most say &8216;happy retirement, we’re sorry to see you go.’ &8221;

Haukoos isn’t going anywhere, she said. She’s not a snowbird by nature; it’s not her thing to own homes in more than one place. She’s been here since her teenage years and isn’t planning on leaving in her retirement.

One customer shopping on the final night of business, told Haukoos, &8220;Good luck in whatever you’re going to do now,&8221; to which Haukoos responded, &8220;Read a book.&8221;

In fact, she’s been hooked on books since she was able to read. One book she’s been trying to read but hasn’t been able to keep on the shelves long enough to finish is James Frey’s memoir of his recovery from a drug addiction titled &8220;A Million Little Pieces.&8221;

Prior to opening &8220;The Constant Reader&8221; on May 1, 1988, in the building formerly occupied by Herb Anderson’s men’s clothing store, Haukoos had done many things. She’d taught high school English, been a bureaucrat for the Secretary of State’s office and owned and run a newspaper in Glenville, with her husband, Bob. When Anderson agreed to give her a &8220;good deal&8221; on rent, she hoped to keep the bookstore open for five years.

During the first year Haukoos could only fill the front third of the building’s 2,500 square feet. By year two, she put in more carpet and expanded the store by about 800 feet. It wasn’t until the third year that the entire store was used.

Since then Haukoos has seen the book business change dramatically. Titles people choose are very media driven, she said, noting the Oprah Book Club phenomenon.

Plus, obviously the Internet has had a noticeable impact, she said. Had she not chosen to sell both new and used books, the local market may not have supported such a store.

Of course, customer service has been a key component as well, she said, noting the quality of workers led by Trudy Banks and Dee Petersen.

&8220;They were perfectly capable of running the store without me,&8221; Haukoos said.

Yet right down to the final minutes, Haukoos enjoyed running the cash register and helping people find books.

Three minutes later she was describing a book being purchased by a customer who was a devoted fan of Thomas Hardy novels and was

buying a book of similar genre by Anthony Trollope.

&8220;He creates a whole society,&8221; Haukoos said. &8220;I love his books.&8221;

The customer paid the $6.28 she owed, saying &8220;Well, thank you for having this store.&8221;

Haukoos has only had time to read three or four books a week, and says she has a lot of catching up to do. As of 7:57 p.m. Tuesday, she’ll have a lot more time to do just that. She plans to get her books from the library now, which is just fine with her.

&8220;I intend to support the Albert Lea Public Library,&8221; she said.