The Percolator, sandwiched between a nail shop and Rite-Aid pharmacy in the Quail Corners shopping center at Falls of Neuse and Millbrook roads, closed July 7 after its last official day.

Owner Julie Bryan decided to close earlier than the end of the month, as initially expected, because she said store items began disappearing.

Bryan, who also is a nurse at WakeMed Raleigh Campus, has spent her recent days cleaning out the store and selling off pieces of her business, from $1 coffee mugs printed with The Percolator's logo to leftover bags of Cup-A-Joe coffee.

"I'm just sitting in the store hoping someone will come and buy some of this equipment," she said.

News of the closure is still trickling out to loyal customers.

"This is just brutal," said Dan Bryk, a singer-songwriter who has a day job at a print shop. Bryk had stopped by The Percolator on Tuesday morning hoping to get a cup of java, but instead discovered Bryan's sign announcing the closure.

"It seemed like that was the last hip, capitalist coffeehouse around here," Bryk said. "It was a respite."

In November, an It's a Grind coffee shop franchise is expected to open in an outbuilding in the shopping center's parking lot that used to house Fallons Flowers.

The California-based chain decided to move into the plaza after The Percolator announced its intention to close, said Stan Lisle of Retail Rep, a Cary real-estate brokerage firm that handled It's a Grind's transaction. "We didn't go in there and throw them out," Lisle said.

But The Percolator, with its large rear meeting room, local art and offbeat vibe, can't be replaced, loyal customers say.

"It was sad to see them go," said patron Eileen Batson, a public relations specialist. She was part of a women's networking group named Coffee and Contacts that met Wednesday mornings at The Percolator. "They really went out of their way for us."

Bryan said she knew she would have to close her shop after she found out that her lease wouldn't be extended. She said the plaza's owner, Dan Austin, didn't like the tattoos and piercings her staff members sported.

"He wanted a more upscale coffee shop," Bryan said.

Dan Austin Jr., who works alongside his father, declined to comment.

Bryan had planned to sell the business, and said she had three interested buyers. But when she didn't receive an offer to extend the lease, her business was lost -- and with it substantial money.

Jeseca Lowell, who had been The Percolator's manager, is planning a private farewell tonight with regular customers.

"They don't have that local spot anymore," she said.