After years of being dragged through the courts, a case between a Vancouver grocer and a U.S. chain store has ended.

Pirate Joe's, a small shop that resells items bought at Trader Joe's and brought back over the border, closed its doors for good on Wednesday night.

Owner Mike Hallatt opened the Kitsilano shop years ago, noting that the U.S. store known for its organic and original products did not have a location north of the border.

Trader Joe's caught wind of his operation and has been working to shut down Hallatt's business – a process that began with a lawsuit in 2013. 

The trademark lawsuit was dismissed in U.S. courts later that year, but was then brought to appeals court in 2016. The case was overturned, but Trader Joe's came back recently with a new strategy, serving Hallatt with an injunction accusing him of not handling the goods according to the company's standards.

Last week, Hallatt's lawyer insisted Pirate Joe's hadn't done anything wrong, saying the practice is legal in both the U.S. and Canada. Hallatt issued a plea for the public's help to fund his legal battle. The crowdfunding site raised $5,765 in a week, far short of the $50,000 he was looking to raise.

But on Wednesday, Hallatt agreed to throw in the towel.

"I had to face the music," he told CTV News on his final day in business.

"I got myself into this, so I had to get myself out of it."

He said he believes his business model is sound, and that the law is on his side, but he just can't afford to keep fighting in court.

"If we're going to trial it would just be prohibitively expensive for me, and as an individual, I just can't get there from here. We're agreeing to disagree on the merits of this case," he said.

Many of his customers, who've become his friends over the years, stopped in on his last day to let him know he was in their thoughts.

"When I first met him, I'm thinking, 'Who is this crazy guy trying to do this crazy venture?'" customer Jacqueline Tupper said.

"And then the more you know him, the more you loved him. The more you supported him."

Hallat said the closure was bittersweet.

"The relief was sort of more than the sadness. It was a great run," he said. He said to watch the space for something new.

"I'm an entrepreneur by nature, so this is just a chapter of a very long book, I hope."

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Ben Miljure