Financially strapped Mansour’s clothing store went out of business Monday after 92 years on Lafayette Square in downtown LaGrange.

The family-owned store had filed for bankruptcy in 2004.

Mansour Realty, which owned the building, leased it to a newly formed company called Premier Retail Services, Inc., which continued doing business under the Mansour’s name.

“The decision to close the store was made due to the retail store environment and the fact that it was the end of a fiscal year,” said Mansour Realty President Nasor Mansour III, who has a 28 percent stake in Premier Retail Services.

Mansour’s had closed its stores in Macon, Augusta and Columbus in the fall of 2003, and Premier bought the LaGrange store’s assets for $1.01 million the following June. The store served as a retail outlet for liquidation projects throughout the Southeast.

“As of now, there will be no going-out-of-business sale in LaGrange since the store’s inventory is on consignment,” Mansour said. “We assume the merchandise will be returned to the appropriate vendors.”

He thanked the city government and the people of LaGrange and Troup County “for their loyal support of the Mansour’s store over the years.”

The store had dwindled to five full-time employees. In its heyday, there were about 300, Mansour said.

“With Mansour Realty, we still have a big investment in downtown LaGrange,” he said. “I’m talking with other possible tenants about leasing” the clothing store space.

Commercial Bank & Trust Co. of Troup County recently sued Premier and its partners over an unpaid loan of $1,040,051.10 it received Dec. 20, 2008. A hearing is scheduled for later this month, but “we’re trying to work something out,” Mansour said.

“In this economic environment, it’s better that we concentrate on other areas than a retail store because the retail environment is just tough right now,” he said.

It wouldn’t have done any good to stay open through the Christmas shopping season, Mansour said.

“With discounts and sales, it’s hard to make anything in December now with long hours and overhead,” he said. “December is not the profit month it used to be.”

Mansour’s “has been an institution here for a long time and it will be sorely missed in our downtown,” said Speer Burdette, president of the Callaway Foundation, which has made huge investments in the downtown area in recent years and had helped Mansour’s stay in business.

“I’m just sorry to see it happen,” said Charlie Solomon, owner of Solomon’s clothing store, which opened on the square in 1918 and has been at its current location on Bull Street since 1932. “They’ve been an integral part of downtown, just like we have, for all these years.”

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.