Time and tide - and in particular the Blitzkrieg of the supermarkets - have caught up with an emporium that has been an institution in Waterford life for almost a century and a half.
Chapmans, on the quays, purveyors of quality groceries, confectionery, tea, coffee and spices, will finally close its doors in the coming weeks.
The old account books, still in the possession of a family member, tell an intriguing story of the global span of trade into and out of the city at the beginning of this century, when the venerable shop was a major supplier of provisions throughout the south-east region and abroad.
On November 27th, 1911, the records note that Chapmans dispatched 2 cwt of bacon backs to Tientsin, China. In 1912, 60 hams were exported to Alexandria. A consignment of green-loin bacon went to Cuba. In 1920, there was an order for smoked hams for an address in northern Nigeria.
The copperplate hand-written records also outline the treatment to be applied to bacon for export - "should be thoroughly dry. Pack in canvas bag, then in paper bag, and pack all in fine dried salt".
George Chapman, now aged 73 and living in retirement in Tramore, worked all his life in the family business. "My early recollections of it are that we were selling crubeens and pigs' heads literally by the ton. There was a huge amount of salted Newfoundland fish. And we were very big in tea - we dealt with 500 chests of tea during the Suez crisis."
Chapmans imported tea from the East and blended its own brand. It was also a major coffee importers. In nearby O'Connell Street, it had a store and smokehouse for curing the hams.
Every two weeks or so, the elaborate window display was changed. One old photograph shows the entire display devoted to the products of the Scottish suppliers, Baxters - tinned partridge for 20 shillings, haggis for eight shillings and sixpence.
It now seems incongruous that the first Chapmans shop was opened in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, in 1847 - during the Great Famine. The business then moved to Carrick-on-Suir, and in 1870 to Waterford.
The location on the quays was convenient both for importing and exporting goods. But the drawback was that the quays flooded occasionally, and George Chapman remembers "a mountain" of Huntley and Palmer biscuits, just landed from a ship, collapsing dramatically when the bottom layer became saturated by flood waters.
The business expanded steadily in this century, but the second World War was a time of great shortages and rationing - "You took what you could get your hands on".
There were other sidelines to the business besides food. George Chapman recalls that clay pipes, manufactured in Waterford, were sold by the box.
The business was sold 20 years ago to its present owner, Kevin Prendergast, who had been a commercial representative for Irish Biscuits for 15 years. He continued to operate it as before, selling a wide range of imported and locally made food products - including, in recent years, the newlyemerging range of traditional Irish cheeses, and serving the developing tastes of the Irish consumer for Oriental foods and spices, and a wide range of delicatessen products.
But the economics of such a business became less viable with the spread of supermarkets, according to Mr Prendergast. The lease on the historic premises has now been sold and it will finally close its doors in a few weeks time, ending a chapter of trading that matched the development of the city itself.