The Vineyard Trust announced Thursday that it will contract with the owners of LeRoux — a kitchen-ware and home-goods store based in Vineyard Haven — to run the historic Alley’s General Store, marking a shift for the Island’s oldest retail business.

Famously known as the Dealers in Almost Everything, Alley’s opened in 1858. It was acquired by the Trust in 1993, and today sells everything from groceries to home goods to beach equipment in the wood-frame building which also houses a branch post office in the heart of the West Tisbury village.

The Trust contracted for management of the store with the Wampanoag tribe from 1998 to 2002, but has mostly hired its own managers through the years.

Two years ago the Trust reorganized the store’s stuffed-to-the-brim, cabinet-of-curiosities interior, moving the checkout counter and providing greater space between shelves and stock. Extensive renovation work was also done on the building.

Speaking to the Gazette by phone Thursday, Trust executive director Funi Burdick said she had been looking to cede management of the store to a retailer, hoping to focus more broadly on the central mission of the Trust.

“Our mission is restoring living institutions, and making sure that the buildings themselves are in good condition, and stay there,” Ms. Burdick said. “Our mission is not to manage a general store.”

A private nonprofit founded in 1975 that owns more than 20 historic properties on the Island, including the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown and the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs, the Trust also owns old buildings that are storefronts in downtown Edgartown, the former West Tisbury library, Osborne Wharf, and the building that houses the Vineyard Gazette.

Ms. Burdick said it had become financially burdensome for the Trust to operate Alley’s, and the contract with LeRoux comes at the right time.

“This will provide us with the income to really maintain the building and the grounds, and to not be . . . running a retail business when we’re supposed to be running a preservation business,” she said.

She said LeRoux owners Michael and April Levandowksi came to her with an offer to lease and operate the store earlier this year. Ms. Burdick described the offer as favorable, compared to two other offers she received, and said it was subsequently approved by the Trust’s board.

According to the Trust website, Mr. Levandowski serves on the Trust’s board as a trustee.

Ms. Burdick said the transition will take place within the next couple of weeks, although an exact timeline has not been set. Staff have been invited to stay on during the transition, she said. The Trust will retain ownership of the building and property, while the Levandowskis will license the Alley’s General Store name.

“We felt that Michael and April Levandowski, who have owned multiple businesses on the Vineyard, and multiple retail stores, were the perfect people to lease from us,” Ms. Burdick said. “I think they’ll do a terrific job — a better job than we’re able to do.”

The store will retain its motto, Ms. Burdick said, with the goal still to be purveyors of everything from a hammer to a beach ball. Ms. Burdick said the lease requires the Levandowskis to come before the Trust before any large-scale changes are made to the store, although she suspected there would be an expansion of stock, as well as other changes.

“They are not going to make it LeRoux in West Tisbury,” Ms. Burdick said.

Founded in 1998, LeRoux At Home, a retail store situated on Main street Vineyard Haven, focuses on kitchen wares, gourmet foods, domestic goods and home décor. The business has since expanded throughout the New England region, with sister stores in Falmouth, Portsmouth, N.H. and Portland, Me.

Alley’s was founded by Nathan Mayhew in 1858. His sons Sanderson and Ulysses later took over the store and in 1916 the Mayhews sold the store to Charles Turner and Benjamin Woodaman. In 1945 Albion Alley bought the store and in 1964 sold it to his three children. The store changed hands again before it was sold to the Trust in 1993.

In the press release, Mr. Levandowski expressed excitement about the transition.

“Our business philosophy has always been grounded in serving the community,” he said. “We feel that operating Alley’s General Store, which is such a central feature of Island life, is a natural fit with our philosophy.”