Photo Credit: Coosa Valley News

An adult retail store on Shorter Avenue in Rome is temporarily closed after authorities seized merchandise from the business Thursday as part of an ongoing civil dispute.

The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the removal of inventory from the Love Library. Chief Deputy Bob Couey said the merchandise is expected to be sold on the courthouse steps at a later date.

The closure is connected to a legal judgment currently before Floyd County Superior Court.

Store owner Charles Craton disputes that the judgment involves the Love Library or its parent company, Romeathon Investments, LLC. Craton said the judgment was instead issued against a separate online business that previously used part of the warehouse space behind the Shorter Avenue location.

According to Craton, that online company went out of business years ago and its inventory was liquidated at that time.

Craton maintains that the merchandise seized Thursday belongs to Romeathon Investments, which he says is not a party to the lawsuit.

An attorney representing the business has filed an emergency motion in Floyd County Superior Court seeking intervention in the matter. Craton said he would not publicly debate the case while the litigation remains active.

Despite the temporary closure, Craton said employees will continue to receive their pay. He said workers were not responsible for the circumstances surrounding the dispute and should not be financially affected by the closure.

The business hopes the legal matter can be resolved quickly so the Love Library can reopen.

The dispute remains before the court, and the claims concerning ownership of the seized merchandise have not been finally resolved.