Montville - Near the front door and behind the cash register of Eds' Kitchen & Creamery on Route 32 is an electronic dessert menu, complete with little lights that illuminate next to the pies available that day for its customers.

Only 7 of 16 lights were lit during the afternoon of New Year's Eve. Usually, most of the lights are on, according to waitress Heidi Kohl, who has worked at Eds' for seven years.

But not these days.

The 41-year-old restaurant is running down its food supplies as it prepares for its last day of business on Sunday, according to owner Ed Lusher Jr. A new restaurant - Uncasville Diner - under the ownership of restaurateur Kerim Ayvaci, of Madison, is slated to open by April after remodeling.

Few things other than the pie signs indicate the imminent closing of Eds'. On Wednesday, customers still sat themselves in blue cushioned booth seats at tables with little pots of red flowers sitting clustered with salt, pepper and sugar shakers.

Couple James Hall and Joyce Marshall, who have been regulars at the diner for the past decade, said Wednesday they didn't know the diner was closing until they saw signs posted on the front door and at the cash register.

"It's like losing a friend," said Marshall.

Hall described the atmosphere as homey and staff as like family. He said he hoped staff would stay on as the new diner opens.

"We know everybody, and everybody knows us," he said.

Lusher, his father Ed Lusher Sr. and mother Lorain Lusher opened the restaurant together in 1974 as a seasonal ice cream business. The apostrophe after the "s" in Eds' is intentional: two Eds have run the restaurant in its history. Ed Sr. retired in 2010 and passed away in 2013.

The restaurant opened year-round in 1976 and has grown into a landmark in Uncasville. Lusher said he could write a book about all the people he's met working there. He described, as an example, how he's seen numerous couples meet at the diner, later wed and then years down the road come in for breakfast with their children.

Ayvaci said the new restaurant will serve similar fare to Eds', but with some additions. He described the new menu as a mix of Mediterranean and diner dishes, and said vegetarian and gluten-free options would be available.

"It's still going to serve the food, it's still going to serve the pizza, it's still going to serve the breakfast - you know, traditional things," he said.

Ayvaci has worked in restaurants since he was a youth growing up in Turkey, he said, adding that he studied at the French Culinary Institute, now called the International Culinary Center, in New York City. He is currently a partner at Shoreline Diner and Vegetarian Enclave in Guilford.

Lusher said his family had planned for four years to sell Eds' but couldn't find the right buyer. Some who showed interest wanted to buy the building as well, but Lusher said he wanted to retain ownership; others didn't have the financing. Lusher said he also took his time because he didn't want his staff members to face losing their jobs.

"Sometimes things are meant to be," he said of Ayvaci, who signed a 15-year lease on the business Dec. 26.

Lusher will continue to own American Car Wash in Montville and plans to also continue working at his wife Marilyn's realty business.

Ayvaci said he plans to keep the current staff. Lusher and Ayvaci said staff may work on preparations for opening of the new restaurant. Lusher said unemployment benefits will be available to those who do not wish to work in that capacity while the location is closed to customers during the renovations.

Employees said they were unsure what the transition would mean for them.

"I feel that it's up in the air for us," Kohl said.

Cook Paul Michael Asalde, who has been with the restaurant 14 years, said he would stay on a few weeks after Sunday to work on cleaning out the kitchen, and that beyond that he didn't know what he would do.

Eds' will keep its regular hours on Sunday, closing at 9 p.m. or when food runs out - whichever comes first, Lusher said.

t.townsend@theday.com

Twitter: @ConnecticuTess