Telco Department Store, on the corner of East Fordham Road and Marion Avenue, opened seven months ago. In October, there were still “Grand Opening” signs in the storefront. But now, Telco is planning to clear out and close up shop following the holiday shopping season.

“We spent a fortune to get this store running here and now we are leaving,” said Telco manager Ahmed Wahman, 50, as blaring speakers promoted the liquidation sales.

After opening its first store in 1972 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Telco expanded to various outer-borough locations across the city. Their core customers were middle-class families, Wahman said.

In the Bronx, however, people weren’t buying, Wahman said.

Customers came in, looked around and left empty handed. The storeowners relied on flyers and signs to attract customers, but that didn’t seem to work. “We don’t belong here,” Wahman said. “Never in my 30 years of business has this happened to me.”

The spacious, two-level department store offers discounted merchandise from name brands such as Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Kenneth Cole. Telco also sells a wide variety of household items, including linens, dishes, and appliances.

According to Dan Bernstein, deputy executive director of Fordham Road Business Improvement District, Telco storeowners weren’t happy with the layout of the store, not with Fordham Road in particular. Before Telco took over the building, a jewelry exchange store occupied the space.

“I don’t know what is going to happen next,” said Wahman. “Maybe we will open a store in New Jersey or in Brooklyn again but not again in the Bronx. It will be the last place to open up another store.”

Telco is expected to close at the beginning of 2011.