'Kind of surreal:' Briggs Hardware closing after 155 years in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Briggs Hardware is liquidating the store. Everything is half off from kitchen supplies to gardening items.

Owner Evelyn Briggs Davis spoke exclusively with ABC11 about the heartbreak behind this last-minute move.

"It's kind of surreal," she said.

Davis grew up working in the family business.

Briggs Hardware been around more than 150 years and has passed down through the generations.

Davis is the sixth-generation owner. She is trying to move merchandise and told ABC11 that the store's closure is beyond her control.

"I was asked to leave, so I'm leaving," she said.

Davis said the landlord didn't want to renew the lease.

About a month ago, she was considering leaving in the wake of violent protests.

"After talking in-depth with police and some city officials, I felt comfortable with staying," Davis said of the Hargett Street location.

She's searching for another spot in downtown Raleigh to place the family business, and it comes at a time when an immediate family member is dealing with illness.

"We made it through the depression, the recession, two world wars. We can make it through this. You just have to tighten up those bootstraps and keep going," Davis said.

Saturday is the last day of business.