WORCESTER, Mass. - This week, Rotmans Furniture announced plans to shut down after 60 years in business, but before they close their doors, customers are flocking back one last time for deals and memories.

"Most people in Worcester County have at least something from Rotmans in their home," longtime employee Barbara Kane said.

Kane has been on the showroom floor for 23 years, watching the business grow and building long-running friendships with coworkers and customers.

"We consider ourselves family, all the employees," Kane said. "And we consider the Worcester community our family, people have shopped here for generations. Grandparents, parents and now their children."

Friday marked the beginning the Rotmans' four-day 'Going out of Business Forever Sale,' and folks like Susan and Victor Durocher couldn't resist taking one last stroll through the 200,000 square-foot building. By now, they certainly know their way around. 

"We've bought, I don't know how many, one, two, three, four, probably five sets of living room furniture," Susan Durocher said. "A kitchen set, little tables, lots of stuff and mattresses and they've been really good. The service was great."

Victor, meanwhile, is no stranger to saying goodbye to a Worcester mainstay. For 43 years, he worked at Elwood Adams Hardware on Main Street. At the time of its closing in 2017, it was the longest operating hardware store in the U.S., dating back to 1782. 

"It hit me the same way that business hit me, nothing is going to last forever," Victor Durocher said. "A lot of people that were in business in that time are elderly and nobody wants to get into the business. It really hurts that the brick and mortar buildings are no longer."

Rotmans Furniture will remain open until early next year, and for as long as the lights are on, employees are encouraging people to stop by, even just to say hello or walk though the store one more time. 

"Even if you're not shopping for something, it's a sentimental trip," Kane said. "This is may be where you bought your bedroom set 40 years ago when you got married, there's a lot of sentiment attached to the things people buy at Rotmans."

And people seem to be answering the call. In all her hours on the clock, Kane said Friday's crowd was the busiest she'd ever seen. 

The Worcester store plans to close by early 2023. CEO Steve Rotman hopes to license the space to small retailers and other businesses struggling to find space. 

"My parents and the brothers who started the business always thought of the employees and the customers that we had as family," Rotman said earlier this week. "I'm at the point where I want to control the space that I'm in, but to work with multiple retailers and people and create an environment which is great for the consumer."