PROVIDENCE — Four tenants of the historic Westminster Street Arcade have won their court fight to stave off eviction, but two other longtime businesses were not so lucky and must leave America’s oldest indoor mall by this weekend.

Eviction notices against The Providence Cookie Co., Café LaFrance, Copacetic and the Black Heritage Society were tossed out by a Superior Court judge on a technicality Friday, and the eviction process must now begin anew, possibly giving the businesses two more months to find new homes.

But Shalmar Fashion Eyewear and La Greque, a Greek eatery, will have to leave by Saturday.

That ends 53 years downtown for Sal Libassi, founder of Shalmar, which he named after his children, Shalla and Mark. He founded the eyeglass shop in the Kinsley Building on Weybosset Street in 1955, and after moving to Westminster Street, and then Union Street, he moved to the Arcade in 1998, and proudly says that then-Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. cut the ribbon for its opening.

When Granoff Properties announced that it wanted to evict the remaining Arcade businesses in June and remake the historic 1828 mall for a single tenant, Libassi took his time paying his rent, paying it what he said was one day late. Because of that, he was not able to avoid eviction, as the four other businesses did.

He has not been able to find another location downtown.

“It’s the end of an era,” he said. “I may just throw in the towel. I’ve been downtown since 1955. I’ve got no place to go.”

For now, he can merge his business with his son’s, who is an optician at 1395 Atwood Ave. in Johnston. But he wants a separate store downtown. And he has harsh words for brothers Evan and Lloyd Granoff, who he said have denied him the ability to stay downtown another month, even though the building will stay open.

“Business is business, but to not be compassionate and take care of the businesses who have paid rent for years? They treat us like they’re stepping on a cockroach. They just crush you. They have no compassion for their fellow man,” Libassi said.

Stamatis “Steve” Karapatakis has operated La Greque in the Arcade for 26 years, and also fell behind on the rent after the eviction notices went out. His next step is equally unclear, but he’s trying to keep his chin up.

“I have to be philosophical about it. There’s a low tide and there’s a high tide … I thank all the people of the world for their patronage,” he said, pointing to dollar bills from countries around the world taped to the wall, many bearing personal messages to Karapatakis scribbled around the numbers.

He would like to stay downtown, but hasn’t found a suitable place.

“I’d like to, but right now, I don’t have too many options,” he said, though he said there’s “something on the horizon.”

“And I’m searching for a neighborhood near you,” he said, jabbing his finger in his best Uncle Sam impersonation.

The Arcade was built in 1828, and renovated in 1901 and 1980. Johnson & Wales University bought the building in 1995.

The businesses in the Arcade have operated on month-to-month leases since the Granoffs took full ownership of the property in February 2006. Since then, nearly 20 businesses have closed their doors and Granoff has not accepted new tenants, knowing the structure would be renovated.

The Granoffs have said that they have consistently lost money on the Arcade, as much as $10,000 a month. At the end of May, they informed the business owners that they had to be out by June 30.

Some businesses closed, but others hired a lawyer and fought the evictions.

Don Beohner, owner of the jewelry store Copacetic, said that the businesses challenged the evictions on a technicality — that their eviction notices ordered them out by June 30, when it should have been July 1. The judge threw out the eviction notices, Beohner said.

“Now they have to re-evict us,” Beohner said, which should allow the remaining businesses to stay until October or November.

The Granoffs’ lawyer, Thomas Moses, could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon.

The extra time will allow Beohner and the Providence Cookie Co. to relocate nearby at 17 Peck St., where work on the electrical system will preclude moving in for at least a month. Café La France and the Black Heritage Society are still looking for new homes.

The mayor’s office has been working with the businesses to try to relocate them in the city, but few have been able to move elsewhere downtown.

dbarbari@projo.com