OXFORD – The tradition of more than a half-century of small town grocery shopping is coming to a close as the Oxford Great American’s liquidation ends tomorrow.

Since the onset of the week, the grocer’s inventory has been marked 50 percent off and the shelves have slowly emptied. In its place, a variety store will soon be doing business.

The new proprietor, Rick Damico, said that by the end of the month, Great American will be completely moved out and then his crews will begin to renovate the deteriorating building. “Basically we are going to gut out the whole store and remodel the inside. We are also going to make improvements to the outside of the building and the grounds around it,” said Damico.

Damico is a developer for Dollar General, which owns his own private firm. He acquires properties and then renovates them to fit the needs of his customer before leasing the property to them.