The countdown signs at the front door tell the story: only a few days remain until the popular Borders store in Friendship Heights in Washington, D.C., shuts its doors for good at the end of this week.

Although many of the best pickings have already been plucked (at higher prices), a visitor Thursday evening found lots of good books remaining at bargain-basement prices. Maps, puzzles, games and other items are on sale too, at 60 percent off.

The store, which filed for protection under bankruptcy law provisions in February, is trying to peddle everything that isn’t nailed down, following the same playbook the Borders chain used in earlier rounds of store closings nationwide.

All fixtures, furnishings and equipment will be sold, managers say.

“We’re definitely trying to clear everything out of here,” said a manager who asked not to be identified. He declined to speculate on how long it would take to clear out the store, or if there would be more price cuts, but he did confirm that the store will close permanently this coming weekend.

Discounts are steeper on some types of books than others in what amounts to something of a perverse ranking system. For example, sports and fitness and world history books are "only" 60 percent off, philosophy and fiction books are marked down a bit more (to 70 percent off), while law books carry the steepest discount — 80 percent off.

This reporter (and baseball fan) found about two dozen copies of “The Last Boy,” Jane Leavy’s highly acclaimed biography of New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle, which was high on the best-seller lists last Christmas.

How long will these deals last? Hard to say. But this reporter plans to go back this week with a little more cash in his pocket this time.