Lenzlea Mosby Jr. said he closed the business in January and declared bankruptcy because of the decline in sales after he stopped carrying beer, wine and cigarettes in March 1997.

The store building sold for $37,000, Washington County Treasurer Todd L. Hershey said Tuesday. He said Mosby could retain ownership if he pays approximately $1,640 in taxes and fees within six months.

Mosby, 63, said that isn't likely. Four other Mosby properties were also sold for taxes, leaving him with just the house where he and his wife live in their poor, crime-ridden neighborhood.

''It's a long, long, long shot. I just don't know if it's realistic to think about anything like that happening,'' Mosby said.

Yet Mosby said he doesn't regret his decision to stop selling alcohol and tobacco after being stabbed during a robbery in 1996.

''When I came back to the store, I felt guilty when I sold a pack of cigarettes,'' he said in an interview last year. ''I didn't want to be the cause of any more young people starting to smoke.''

He said his sales plunged as much as 75 percent, and most people who supported him when he publicly poured out beer and made a bonfire of tobacco products didn't shop at his store afterward.

''I can understand,'' he said. ''They didn't live in this area and it was out of their way for them to come by.''