It was a familiar sound: small glass beads clinking together as people sorted through bowls and trays with their fingers, searching for the perfect piece.

Sunday afternoon at Beadniks in Vineyard Haven saw newcomers and professionals alike browsing the colorful wares. But this day was different: everything in the store — including the teak tables, the wooden stools and one of the cash registers — was marked down and on sale.

Customers flocked to closing day sale, to buy and say goodbye. — Ivy Ashe

It was the last Sunday and the last day for Beadniks. At 5 p.m. the Open flag hanging from the picnic area out front would come down and the doors would close for good.

Sally Roesler, owner and founder of the store, decided over the summer to sell the year-round business after 24 years in order to focus on her wholesale bead business in Virginia Beach, Va., Ms. Roesler has been splitting her time between the Vineyard and Virginia Beach since 2008. She searched for a buyer for the Vineyard Haven store, but ultimately could not find one — a fact that still surprises her, given the profitability of the business.

Since she announced the closing sale the week before Thanksgiving, customers had been dropping by not only to pick up some discounted turquoise and Venetian glass, but also to tell Ms. Roesler how much the store had meant to them.

“It’s been tremendous,” Ms. Roesler said. “[People said] the Island’s going to miss you; we’re going to miss you . . . I appreciated everyone’s business. It’s a two-way street: we needed them, and they needed us.”

Erica Mason, a jewelry designer who lives part time on Chappaquiddick, held a gray beading tray stacked with hemp cord and strands of semi-precious stones.

“This is one of my favorite bead shops,” she said. She’d been by yesterday, too, but was back for some final shopping.

Even wooden trays that held beads were for sale. — Ivy Ashe

“Maybe I’ll visit in Virginia Beach,” Ms. Mason said.

“We’re not going away, we’re going South,” Ms. Roesler joked to a customer as she rang up purchases. Her niece Amy Scott, who has worked at Beadniks since she was 14, manned the other register. The nieces and nephews had grown up with “bead camp” in summers, working at the store and staying at Ms. Roesler’s house.

One former employee, Stacy Hayden, also began working at Beadniks as a summer job. She became full time, year round and eventually owned the business itself for a time.

But though Beadniks has been a career for some, for most it has been a place to take a break from work and relax.

“It was always a place to go,” said Gretchen Underwood of Oak Bluffs who started shopping at the store with her granddaughter. “We looked forward to coming in and seeing what’s new, what’s been done.”

Mrs. Underwood said she only makes a few pieces of jewelry each year, and pointed out that Ms. Roesler also stocked beautiful ready-made pieces. She pointed to her own wrist, where she sported a wampum bracelet featuring rectangular pieces.

Some beads had already been put away to be donated: a bag of alphabet beads was behind the register and would be going to Camp Jabberwocky later along with several other bead bags. One of Ms. Roesler’s former employees, Greg Marshall, lives at the Vineyard Independence Partnership, and was “the fastest seed bead filer I’ve ever had.”

Some items had already been pulled from stock to take back to the wholesale business in Virginia Beach. The Bead Goes On, founded in 1989, was Ms. Roesler’s first venture into the bead world. That store maintains an online presence, and Ms. Roesler said she would welcome any customers who wanted to visit the Virginia Beach location.

“It’s warmer down there,” she smiled.