BANGOR – A row of colorful umbrellas contrasted with the sullen sky above West Market Square Thursday morning as dozens of customers waited in line to take advantage of the sales occurring as Boyd & Noyes Jewelers goes out of business.

“I hate to see it go,” Nadean Whitten, 71, of Brownville Junction said. Whitten, bundled against the rain in the store’s doorway, said she had driven 50 miles that morning to find deals on loose, uncut diamonds. “[Owner David Hallowell] is a wonderful gemologist and jeweler.”

Hallowell said Thursday afternoon that he would remain open until the store’s estimated $875,000 of merchandise is sold and that the liquidation process would likely last several weeks.

“The store will be closing forever as soon as our stock is sold,” he said. “We will not be adding any merchandise.”

The jewelry store has been in operation in Bangor since 1936 and was founded by Sidney Noyes and Lewis Boyd. Hallowell bought the store in 1969 from Noyes and moved it in 1978 from Hammond Street to its present location at Broad Street. He owns the building, which is also for sale.

Hallowell, 62, said that the store is closing because of his desire to retire and not for economic reasons.

“I have decided that 35 years is long enough and 62 years is old enough,” he said. “It’s time to have a life without the stress and responsibility of being a small- business owner.”

The 2004 Christmas season had been his best ever, he said, and last year was financially strong for the store. Hallowell credited his longtime employee, Andy Manzo, for much of the jewelry store’s success and thanked other staff in an emotional statement.

“The store has been almost a family,” he said. “We have been fortunate to have many customers who have done business with us for 10, 20, and even 30 years. People have become friends. The hard part will be losing this great relationship with so many friends.”

He said that the morning’s crush of customers was “overwhelming.”

One shopper was Brad Ryder, owner of nearby Epic Sports. After perusing the merchandise, Ryder ducked back into the rain outside with an anniversary gift hidden in his pocket.

“I bought a really nice necklace,” he said. “It’s a great jewelry store, and we’re going to miss him. It’s been an anchor store of downtown.”

Dozens of customers crowded around the glass jewelry cases inside, peering at the sparkly rings, necklaces and earrings – and at their slashed price tags.

Samantha Daggett and Brian Doyle of Bangor were on a special mission.

“We’re looking for wedding bands,” Daggett said. “We got engaged in November.”

Other customers who had received engagement rings and wedding rings over the years from Boyd & Noyes said that the store held memories for them.

Margie Higgins, 77, of Bangor, cut a bright figure near a display of glassware with her pink raincoat and her walker. “My husband bought my wedding ring set back in 1948,” she said. “I’ve been coming here ever since.”

Another shopper watched the line of customers grow for about an hour before deciding to brave the weather and join it, she said.

“It just got longer and longer and longer,” said Linda Allen of Veazie. Her husband purchased their wedding rings there in 1977.

“This makes me sad,” she said of the closing. “It’s my favorite jewelry store … I’m sorry to see it go.”