In July, signs appeared in S. Maple lighting retailer Top of the Lamp announcing a moving sale. In September, new signs went up announcing a closing sale instead.

Owner Deb Elmore had planned to move the forty-two-year-old business to Jackson Rd., but a conversation with a friend changed her mind. “Deb was ready for some new adventures,” says the friend, Laurie Gross, in a joint interview at the store. Gross, who co-owns Gross Electric on South Industrial, says that “we started talking and I said, ‘I’ll buy up the inventory and run the closing-the-store sale for you.'”

When the sale wraps at the end of September, Gross Electric will take Top of the Lamp’s remaining unsold merchandise. Going forward, Gross says, she’ll be adding more unique and specialty lighting. “We love to hear why people preferred Top of the Lamp,” she says, “and we’re going to work to make similar products available at Gross Electric.”